In All but Blood
by Forever Free Evergreen
Summary: AU: Kurt goes to America to join the Xmen along with his brother R
1. Welcome to the Team

_Disclaimer: I do not own Xmen Evolution just the words below and the chapters that __**(will)**__ follow._

_A/N: Anything in [] is translated German._

**Chapter 1**

**Welcome to the Team**

'_Attention_ _passengers. We shall be arriving in Bayville in the next five minutes. All those wishing to get off please make sure you have everything with you. Thank you.'_

The teen sprawled over one side of the compartment he was in opened one dark blue eye when the announcement ended. Stretching he got into a sitting position to look across at the boy clad in a hooded trench coat he was sharing his compartment with.

_[Did you get any sleep at all]_ he asked him in his native tongue.

_[No]_ the boy answered shaking his head _[Every time I close my eyes I keep seeing them again and again. Are you sure we will be welcome here brother?]_

His brother sighed softly before moving to sit beside him and put an arm round his shoulders _[The Professor wouldn't have offered us a place at his school if not Kurt. He allowed me to copy his powers remember?]_

Kurt nodded against his older brother's shoulder. He remembered the professor asking his brother to copy his power then use it to see if he was telling the truth. After confirming that he was their parents were eager to know if the man could help them live normal lives.

_[But even if we are welcome there I'll still stand out more than you]_ Kurt argued.

His brother just chuckled _[Just because you're blue doesn't mean you have to feel blue]_

Kurt huffed before moving out of his brother's grip.

_[Look promise me you'll be your mischievous carefree self when we get there not some down in the dumps bum ok __**Nightcrawler**__?]_

Kurt looked at his brother, who could tell he was grinning, and said _[Only if get the upper bunk __**Snake-eyes**__]_

Stefan 'Snake-eyes' Wagner smirked as his iris' went from dark blue to deep purple with slit like pupils then back again _[That's the little brother I know and love]_

'_Attention all passengers. We are now arriving in Bayville. Please stay seated until the train stops before getting off. Thank you.'_

~#~

Out on the platform Professor Charles Xavier and Ororo Munroe, or Storm due to her powers, were waiting patiently for the two brothers to step onto the platform. They were easy to spot when they saw them. Stefan was wearing a deep gray tunic with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of black slacks carrying a duffel bag over his shoulder whilst Kurt, Ororo assumed, was wearing a dark trench coat and carrying a duffel bag of his own while keeping close to Stefan.

"Welcome to Bayville" the Professor said when they got closer before introducing his associate "I'd like you two to meet Ororo Munroe, also called Storm, she will be one of your instructors whilst you live here"

Stefan nodded his head whilst Kurt said a quiet hello. Stefan glanced at his brother before looking back at the two teachers before him. "Excuse my brother's _eagerness _he wasn't able to get much sleep on the trip"

Both the Professor and Ororo nodded in understanding having known what Kurt had gone through recently back in Germany.

"In that case" the Professor said as he wheeled about to face the exit "What say we continue this back at the mansion?"

Both Wagner's agreed to this and all too soon they had arrived at the institute where two more students, a guy red shades and a girl with red hair around Stefan's age, were just getting out of a red convertible.

"Ah perfect timing you two" the Professor said when he saw them. "I'd like you to welcome two new students to our ranks. This is Stefan Wagner, call sign 'Snake-eyes', and his younger brother Kurt, call sign Nightcrawler. Boys this is Scott Summers, call sign Cyclops, and Jean Grey"

"Awesome ride you have zher" Kurt said as he looked over the convertible.

"I wouldn't get too close to it if I were you" Jean warned teasingly _'It's his pride and joy'_

Hearing the voice in his head Kurt teleported to behind his brother's back. Doing so caused his hood to fall down letting them see his face, which was covered in blue fur. However Scott and Jean were more impressed with his power than his appearance.

"You'll get used to her doing that" Scott said as he held out his hand to the younger Wagner "She can also move things with her mind. And if you think my wheels are impressive then you should check out our wings"

"Vings? You mean to say ve have our own plane?" Kurt asked his golden yellow orbs wide with joy as he shook Scott's hand. "Man you have got to let me see it"

"Come on" Scott said as he placed an arm around the furry boys shoulders "I'll even show you where we hide the soda"

"I would advise against that" Stefan called to their retreating backs "He actually bounces off walls after just _one_"

"He seems more eager now than at the station" Ororo noted.

"It's 'cause he's with people like himself" Stefan explained smiling "Not in the literal sense obviously"

The girls chuckled at his joke.

"What about your powers Stefan" Jean asked "Do you have anything cool?

"Put it this way" Stefan said before activating his snake-eyes "I bring copycat into the literal sense"

The Professor chuckled before explaining to Jean "Stefan's eyes are able to give him an exact copy of other mutants' powers that he can use whenever he wishes"

"Not exactly" Stefan corrected "This power of mine, which dates back to medieval Europe, is known as the Evil-eye which according to legend can only be used so many times in one day"

"That is still an impressive power though" Jean said "So can you-?"

Stefan answered Jeans question by imitating Kurt's teleport, right down to the sulphur and brimstone stench, to appear behind Jean.

"Whoa"

~#~

_[I've died and gone to heaven]_ Stefan mumbled as he lay down on his bed. A sudden bamf at the end of his bed indicated his brother just arrived. When he raised his head however instead of seeing his brother he saw a younger version of himself. _[Kurt?]_

_[A gift from the Professor]_ Kurt explained excitedly _[Now we really do look like brothers brother]_

_[Drop the facade then we'll look like brothers]_ Stefan said causing Kurt to lose his excitement as he sat on the edge of the bed. _[Sorry to burst your bubble but that disguise is probably for show only. Bet if I were to touch your face I'd still feel fur]_

_[Trust an elder sibling to spoil ones fun]_ Kurt said as he lay on the bed beside his brother after turning off the inducer revealing him in his new uniform.

_[Nice threads]_ Stefan teased.

_[Just you wait]_ Kurt said as he shoved his brother _[With this on chicks will definitely dig the fuzzy dude]_

Stefan groaned at that. _[Only if the fuzzy dude acts like himself and gets to his own bed before he falls asleep]_

Hearing light snoring Stefan turned his head to see his younger brother already sleeping. Smiling at the peaceful look on Kurt's face Stefan just lets him be as he too began to fall asleep.

_A/N: For those wishing to know a bit about the OC Stefan check my account page otherwise just R&R if you wish. 'Til next week. _

_Watch this space and peace out._


	2. Cats, Quakes & claws

_Disclaimers on chapter 1. Read on._

**Cats, Quakes & Claws**

"Vhy me of all people?" Kurt mumbled to himself as he landed the X-jet in a deserted field a few blocks from his and the Professors objective.

"I believe you will find the answer the same as the last ten questions Kurt" the Professor answered from the Co-pilots seat.

Kurt cringed despite the Professor answering nice and politely. "Sorry Professor, I didn't mean to complain or anything. It's just zat I'm nervous about how she'll react vhen she sees me"

"Do not apologise Kurt" the Professor said as he moved toward the exit ramp. "It's only natural to be nervous about meeting someone new. And as for your appearance, as your brother said 'your personality more than makes up for it'"

Kurt nodded as he followed the Professor focusing back on the event that, not two hours ago, had started all this. He and Stefan, despite being in America for a week now, were still running on German timelines so when they woke up it was still the middle of the night. Fortunately the Professor had granted them access codes to the danger room allowing the brothers to exercise their powers as well as keep up their circus honed physiques.

"Nothing like a good workout to start the day" Stefan said as he reached into the fridge for the milk and orange juice cartons whilst Kurt grabbed a couple of glasses.

_[An _early morning_ exercise in the _middle_ of the night, how novel]_ Kurt chuckled as he sat on a stool.

"_Kurt_" Stefan said as he looked at his younger brother with a, mildly, scolding gaze "What have I said about talking in our native tongue?"

"Sorry" Kurt apologised "It's just zat I'm used to our talks in German plus I'm not as good vith languages as you are"

"You sound understandable even with the accent" Stefan reassured as he passed Kurt a glass of orange juice "And anyway you're better than me at any vehicle whether with or without wheels"

Kurt grinned before downing the drink. He had only been on the X-jet twice but Scott had declared him a natural after the first training session. "Von of ze many reasons chicks dig ze 'Fuzzy Dude'"

Stefan almost sprayed his brother with milk when he said that. "What chicks? Every time I see you you're waiting at our table or standing outside your class waiting for the bell, and I know that you stop at Burger Time for a quick Gut-Bomb before morning bell"

"I vas hungry" Kurt reasoned.

"You ate a _whole_ packet of bacon rashers, _ten_ German sausages, _half a dozen_ eggs _and_ what I didn't finish. Either you've got a black hole for a stomach or you burn off cal's' with every 'port"

"Speaking of vich" Kurt said as he grabbed an apple before teleporting to hang by his feet to a light fixture to eat it "Vhat's for breakfast today"

"If there's anything left from _yesterday_" Stefan mumbled before asking "When do you think we'll get another student?"

"Zat depends on whoever goes to say 'hi' I suppose" Kurt reasoned after a moment "I mean ze Professor can't be zere for every von ja?"

"True" Stefan agreed nodding his head thoughtfully "Why doesn't one of us visit with him next time? If it's drivable I'll go, if further you go"

"Deal" Kurt agreed without thinking giving his brother a hi five-to-three.

"In that case Kurt" came the Professors voice as he came through the doorway "Could you prepare the X-jet for a trip to North Brook?"

If Kurt was right-way-up his jaw would have dropped. He shook off his daze to answer "Ja Professor but I think our new comrade vould appreciate von showing up in something ozer zan vons sleep-vare"

"I agree she wouldn't" The Professor chuckled before heading off to look more presentable. The moment he left the room Kurt teleported so he was inches from his brother.

"You _knew_ he vas up and at Cerebro vhen ve made zat deal didn't you!?" Kurt whispered furiously a look of panic upon his face. "Vhat am I supposed to do?"

"Don't panic for one" Stefan said as he placed his hands on his brothers shoulders "Second just be yourself your personality more than makes up for your appearance and third get into some decent clothes, grab your inducer and get the X-jet warmed up before the Professor is ready"

"But vhat if I make her _not_ vant to go?"

Stefan pulled his panicky brother into a hug before looking at him from arms length "Chicks dig the 'Fuzzy Dude' bro. You told me that"

_As if any chick _would_ dig the 'Fuzzy Dude'_ Kurt thought as he followed behind the Professor. _Still, at least he didn't get off easy either_.

_You should be lucky you are not in his place Kurt_ the Professor said _According to Cerebro Lance has some control of his powers already._

"I'm afraid I don't understand Professor" Kurt said as he caught up to the man.

"Stefan is more suitable for tackling those who think themselves better than most" the Professor explained "Whilst you are capable of showing those with recently awakened powers, like Miss Pryde, that you can still have a normal life"

Kurt had no comeback for that. All too soon they were on the porch of the home where their next teammate was currently living.

"Sounds like ve may have come at a bad time" Kurt said his enhanced hearing picking up what sounded like an argument then someone walking at a quick pace towards the door followed by a yell of surprise before suddenly being tackled by something falling through the door.

_{So tempting to leave you hanging...But I won't}_

"What a waste of time" Stefan muttered as he headed for the exit of a park that looked like it had been hit by an earthquake.

He had come here on Professor Xavier's request to seek out Lance Alvers a newly discovered mutant with the power to create earthquakes by emitting sonic sound waves from his hands. However Lance preferred using his powers whenever he wanted rather than the Professor's below radar approach and tried to 'rock' Stefan who used his evil-eye to copy Lance's power then sent his own tremor at Lance burying him in dirt and rocks.

"Get...back...here!" came a weak voice from behind him. Looking round Stefan saw that Lance had, shakily, gotten to his feet. "I...ain't done...yet!"

Stefan just kept on walking infuriating his beaten opponent. With an angry cry Lance sent a gaping fissure towards Stefan who waved his right hand behind him stopping the fissure from growing. He then sent a wave of telekinetic energy at Lance sending him flying into a jeep parked nearby knocking him out cold.

"_Dummkopf_" Stefan muttered as he continued walking towards a silver racing motorcycle he had found in the institutes garage. Upon reaching it he found another motor cyclist leaning against it.

"Not a bad talent you got there kid" he said as he stood up straight making him taller than Stefan. "You copied his power, sent a resonance wave at the ground so it cancels out your opponents then send a psychic wave at him hurling him into something knocking him out"

Stefan raised an eyebrow "Guess I'm not the only one with good eyes"

"When we get back to the institute" the man said a feral grin on his features "I'll show you what other good qualities I have"

"Sorry but I prefer women" Stefan stated before stepping back as the man snarled whilst revealing metal claws that came out his hands.

"Just for that" he snarled "I'll make sure you break more than a sweat in your next danger room session"

With that he sheathed his claws and headed towards his own motor cycle leaving a stunned Stefan in his wake.

"Was it something I _said_?"

~#~

"I'm like _so_ going before I like totally die of boredom!" Kitty yelled at her parents before heading for the front door at a brisk pace.

She was so caught up in trying to leave she managed to trip over her own feet sending her head first towards the door. Yelling in surprise she brought her hands up to prevent herself from face-planting the door only to go through it to crash into the midsection of whoever was behind the door sending both to the ground.

Looking up she realised that the person she fell into was around her age and looking at her with a pained expression, it was then she realised where her left knee had planted itself.

"Oh my god! I'm like so sorry!" Kitty said as she hastily got off the poor boy who curled up muttering in a foreign language. "I didn't mean to! It's just-Ahh!"

She had begun backing away towards the door not knowing that her parents had opened it. Her foot caught the edge making her fall backwards and fall through the floor landing painfully in the basement where she found herself earlier this morning.

"Why is this happening to me?!" she sobbed as she curled herself into a ball and began crying uncontrollably.

~#~

_[Talk about a strong first impression. Right in the one place all males don't want damaged before their honeymoon]_ Kurt moaned, barely listening to what was being said until he heard the girl scream and her parents call out her name. Looking up he saw the Professor trying to calm down the girl's parents.

_Kurt! Kitty is beginning to panic!_ The Professor said in his mind _Get to the basement and calm her down before she phases too far!_

Kurt instantly forgot what had happened when he heard that last part. He quickly blind ported, he hoped, to several feet beside where Kitty fell and was rewarded with the sight of a teen crying her eyes out. Remembering all the times his brother held him while he cried Kurt gently wrapped the girl in his arms nearly teleporting when she wrapped one arm round his waist whilst the other around his neck burying her head into his shoulder.

_She vould have found out eventually_ Kurt reasoned as he let the girl soak the long sleeve shirt he had on whilst stroking her back in what he hoped was a calming motion. _Makes me vonder how brozzer put up vith my teary moments._

When she finally calmed down Kitty made to pull away when her hand brushed Kurt's cheek making her pause. Kurt, in response to her sudden hesitation, switched off his inducer letting her see his true form.

"You veren't ze only von who got ze short straw" Kurt explained softly to the girl in his arms who put her hand flush against his cheek. "Fortunately yours vasn't as short as mein"

Kitty sat stunned as she took in the boy before her feeling the softness of his fur beneath her hand. "You're like a...blue...fuzzy..."

Kurt closed his eyes as he braced himself for the 'D' word.

"Elf"

"Vas?" Kurt asked as his eyes popped open to look at the girl before him. "No screaming, no 'help demon!' no ...nozzing?"

Kitty giggled "If like you were then you would have so killed me by now"

"Careful _fraulien_" Kurt said grinning mischievously at her "I might consider it if all mein faculties aren't vorking"

"Speaking of; are you furry _there_ as well?" Kitty threw back despite the blush that had risen in her cheeks.

"Keep in mein good books and you might find out von day" Kurt countered sending both of them into peals of laughter.

"Kitty Pryde" Kitty said once she got her breath back. "I'd like offer you my hand but..."

"Oh!" Kurt exclaimed when he realised he still had his arms around her waist. He quickly teleported to the other side of the room leaving Kitty spluttering in a cloud of sulphur. "Sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Like whoa! Hold on a minute" Kitty said as she got up "What's like gotten you so freaked?

"Because of mein looks I don't have many friends" Kurt explained "And vhen I didn't let go before you hinted zat I thought..."

"You like totally thought wrong" Kitty said as she walked up to him and putting her hand on his cheek again. "You're kind, funny, cute and the fact that the colour of your fur is like my favourite is so an added bonus"

"You mean?" Kurt asked not daring to believe what he was hearing.

"I like want to be one of your friends" Kitty said smiling brightly. "But I like don't know your name"

The moment Kurt smiled Kitty thought there would be no need for a light down here. "Kurt Wagner. Also known as Nightcrawler and ze 'Fuzzy Dude'"

"And to me as 'Fuzzy Elf'" Kitty said smiling herself as she grabbed Kurt's arm. "Now like come on my parents must be like totally worried by now"

Kurt just let himself get pulled along by the girl as he turned on his inducer smiling all the while.

_I vas right brozzer. Chicks dig ze Fuzzy Dude._

_My longest chap yet but what the hey. _

'_Til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out._


	3. And You Thought You Had Problems?

_Disclaimers in chapter 1_

**And You Thought You Had Problems**

"Like whoa!" Kitty exclaimed as she got her first glimpse of the mansion that she would be living in until she finished her schooling, at least.

"Velcome to ze 'Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters'!" Kurt said before he started bringing the X-jet in for its final approach. "Currently home to at least five students, von instructor and ze Professor himself"

Kitty just gaped in awe as she saw the view of the ocean from the rear of the mansion as well as the outdoor pool. She was still getting her head around her roller-coaster ride of a day. It started in the small hours of the morning when she had had a nightmare about falling from the sky only to wake up and discover she fell _through_ the ceiling. She then got into an argument with her parents about not going out until they discovered what is wrong with her forcing her to just up and leave them and ended up falling head first through the door and into some teenager she had never met.

Whilst trying to explain to the teen Kitty fell backwards into the basement again before being comforted by the same guy she literally ran into. It was then that she discovered that the teen, or Kurt once he introduced himself, had problems bigger than her in the form of blue fur all over his body as well as three fingered hands, two toed feet and a tail plus a pair of elf like ears making her dub him Fuzzy Elf which was different from the usual she assumed from what he said afterward.

Feeling bold she then asked a rather personal question which Kurt countered with ease sending the two of them into peals of laughter. She then felt elated when she discovered that Kurt had so few friends and had immediately asked if she could be one of his gaining what could only be described as a 'megawatt' grin from the boy.

Upon returning upstairs to where her parents and the Professor were Kitty was told of the school that was set up for others like Kurt and her. She barely let the Professor ask if she wanted to join them before saying yes not noticing her parents looking at her and Kurt, or rather at their joined hands which neither of the owners had apparently noticed until Kurt stood up earning a blush from Kitty and a pair of knowing smiles from her parents.

Now she was on a jet being piloted by her fuzzy friend making her wonder what else he was good at; when she asked all he said was 'you'll find out vhen you're ready' wiggling his eyebrows afterwards sending her into another fit of laughter, she was liking the guy more and more and they had barely met and she still had to meet the rest of the group.

'_Hope they're just_ _as nice'_

'~#~

Stefan cursed as he ducked another swipe from his opponent only to receive a swift kick to chest sending him into the wall of the danger room.

"Told you I'd make you break more than a sweat" Logan said from where he stood.

"No kiddin" Stefan grumbled as he got to his feet "You've made me break sweat, skin and at least cracked a rib with that last move"

Logan chuckled "If I were you I'd use that trick of yours"

Stefan gritted his teeth. So far he discovered that he could use his evil-eye three times a day for a maximum of fifteen minutes per time before he got this feeling of forbidding its use. He had already used it once today against the Alvers guy, thankful that he kept it active until he knocked the guy out. Given that his rear was about to be handed to him on a platter he had no choice.

'_Old granny did say I had a knack of only picking fights that I could win'_ he thought as he activated his power. _'Hope she's right about that because I'm gonna hafta hit hard and fast to knock this guy down'_

Stefan focused on the different powers he had obtained during the last seven days; Kurt's teleportation, the Professor's mind powers, Scott's eyebeams, Jean's telekinesis', Storm's weather manipulations and Lance Alvers' earthquake ability. He quickly formed a plan before charging towards the man known as Wolverine.

"About time" Logan said when he saw his opponent's eyes.

The next thing he knew said opponent created a quick sending him off balance before being thrown into the ceiling. He was then struck from multiple directions whilst still in the air before being sent slamming into the ground by a lightning strike and an optic blast simultaneously.

'_Now that's an attack!'_ he thought feeling the electricity conduct through his metal laced skeleton.

"Verdamnt!" Stefan cursed as he landed clutching his eyes "Using too many powers in so little time must put a strain on the time limit redeucing it somehow, I've probably got about five minutes left if that"

Looking over to his opponent he saw that Logan was starting to stand up whilst, if he was seeing properly, his injuries were healing. Hoping that was his power Stefan quickly copied it before using it to heal his own wounds.

"If you boys are finished with your male bonding ritual" came Jean's voice through the loud speaker "Then I suggest you make yourselves presentable, the Professor wants us to meet a new teammate and I just got word from Storm that she and her nephew will be arriving shortly"

With that she cut the mic and left leaving the two guys as they headed towards the locker room.

"You got lucky this time _copycat_" Logan said as he got changed into his civvies. "But next time we fight you won't be"

Stefan smirked "Anytime you want a rematch just let me know, I'll go easy on you"

Logan had to suppress a chuckle when he heard that. He was beginning to think he made the right choice in coming back. As the two reached the lounge they were suddenly joined by an over cheerful Kurt teleporting between them.

"Guten morg-urk!" Kurt's greeting was cut short by Logan grabbing him by the throat whilst unsheathing the claws in his other hand.

"Stand down Wolverine!" came the Professor's stern voice as he entered the room sensing Kurt's sudden distress. "He's one of us"

"Pop up on me like that again Elf and it won't be pretty" Logan growled as he let go of a terrified looking Kurt who quickly teleported behind Stefan whose own face was contorted in rage.

"Are you like okay Kurt?" Kitty asked having seen what happened to the poor elf and had immediately went to his side.

"And _you_ are?" Stefan asked his eyebrows hidden by his bangs as he looked at the girl now comforting his brother.

"Kitty Pryde and I'm like his _best friend_" Kitty replied glaring at Stefan. "Like who are _you_?"

Stefan blinked several times before turning to his brother _[I was expecting you to take things a bit _slower_ bro]_

_[She digs the Fuzzy Dude better than I thought]_ Kurt shrugged smiling all the while.

_[Reckon she definitely will once I tell her about that time you managed to get stuck in the cookie jar when you were younger]_ Stefan said remembering seeing a foot tall jar full of cookies with a tail waving about merrily as owner gorged on the contents inside before yelping for help. He was five at the time whilst Kurt was almost three.

_[You wouldn't]_ Kurt said smile vanishing.

_[Course not]_ Stefan joked _'I'll tell her after you're_ hitched'

"Like hey!" Kitty yelled between the brothers "Speak words we can like totally understand please"

"Sorry Kitty" Kurt apologised "Mien brozzer vas asking a personal question"

Kitty was about to ask what it was about when two new faces joined them. One was a woman in her early thirties whilst the other was a boy around her age.

"Whoa man! You one of us?" the boy asked Kurt when he saw his appearance. Kurt nodded not knowing how use his tongue at the moment. "Sweet! All I got is the power to ah-ah-ACHOO!!"

The next second everyone apart from Jean, the Professor and Ororo dived for cover as a salvo of spikes came shooting out of the boy's body impaling themselves in the walls, chairs or Jeans telekinetic shield covering her and the Professor.

"Now _zat's_ a lethal cold" Kurt exclaimed from behind the chair he was hiding behind holding Kitty, who had froze when she saw a spike coming towards her, in his arms.

"If you thought you had problems Kitty" Stefan said from where he was spawled against the wall eying a spike inches from the side of his head. "Then you haven't met us"

Kitty mentally agreed whilst enjoying the feel of Kurt's fur against her cheek. _'At least it _won't_ be boring'_

~#~

_R&R_

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out._


	4. Southern Discomfort

_Disclaimers in chapter 1_

**Southern Discomfort**

"Man this is like _so_ unfair!" Kitty whined as she opened her locker, stuffed her book bag in it then slamming it shut.

"Tell me about it" Evan agreed.

"I mean it's like _Friday_! What kind of person like has their first day on the day like _before_ the weekend?" Kitty moaned before walking off leaving Evan standing where he was.

The two of them had been enrolled into the same school as the rest of the team. However Kitty argued constantly over breakfast about having to go to school for one day before the weekend came round. She reluctantly complied with the Professors wishes but that did not mean she was happy with it.

"''Pity-Kitty? That you?"

Kitty froze when she heard that voice. Turning round she came face to face with a surprised Lance Alvers who looked like he came off worse in a fight recently. She thought she had seen the last of him two weeks ago when he got expelled.

"Like what are you doing here?!" Kitty asked slowly backing away from him.

"Aw come on girl" Lance replied as he walked towards her "You know I'm the only one who'll actually go out with someone like you"

"Like what's that supposed to mean?!" she threw back before gasping slightly as she felt the wall against her back. She suppressed a shudder as he brushed a finger against her cheek.

"The only reason guys liked you was cuz you were smarter than them then once you helped them out they set their sights on something better"

"Shut up!" Kitty cried as she shoved Lance out the way before running down the hall.

Had she been looking where she was running she would have noticed someone coming round the corner, instead she ploughed face first into the guy nearly gasping before she felt fur instead of skin.

"Ve have got to stop meeting like zis" Kurt joked before he saw Kitty's tear stained face. "Vhat's wrong?"

"Hey!" Lance yelled as he caught up with them. "Back off before I rock ya!" He emphasized his point by creating a small tremor.

Kurt quickly teleported in front of Lance grabbing him by the shirt and teleported several times in rapid succession leaving Lance feeling rather disorientated, and nauseous.

"Vhy don't _you_ back off!" Kurt glared at the teen. "Or do you vant to go round ze block again?"

Lance took the hint and started walking off in the opposite direction. "Remember what I said 'Pity-Kitty'"

Kurt continued to glare at him until he rounded the corner out of sight before turning his attention to the sniffling girl behind him.

"Back in my old school, I was called 'Pity-Kitty' cuz I would only be noticed by guys until I helped them with their homework" Kitty explained between sniffs "When I met Lance I thought that he wanted to be with me because of who I was, turns out he was wanting something else from me other than my brain"

"Zat vas in your old school" Kurt said as he wrapped his arms around the girl understanding what she meant by 'something else'. "Here you have people who like you for _who_ you are not _vhat_, plus you have your very own 'Fuzzy Dude' as a best friend to help cheer you up vhen needed"

Kitty could not help but giggle as she enjoyed the comfort Kurt's arms were offering "I think you mean 'Fuzzy _Elf_'"

Little did the two know that Stefan and Jean were spying on them from round the corner. The two had been nearby when the tremor struck and had gone to investigate who was causing it. Upon arrival they saw the situation under control and decided to watch from afar.

"How long until they're together you reckon?" Jean asked as she watched the two split ways, not before Kitty gave Kurt a quick hug in thanks.

'_Before you and Scott get together that's for sure'_ Stefan thought mentally to himself remembering all the times he had seen the two dance around one another. "Summer break, Christmas if nudged in the right places"

"You think they'll need help? Because it looks like they _won't_ need it" Jean said before walking off herself. "Could you tell Scott and the others I'll be late getting back tonight? And I _heard_ that by the way"

"Then do something about it" Stefan called after her.

~#~

"This is like _so_ weird and freaky" Kitty said from the control room of the danger room the whole team minus Jean had just watched Logan demonstrate what they would be doing under his command during training. "Isn't anyone else like disturbed by this or is it like just me?"

"Don't vorry Kitty" Kurt said before inhaling a handful of popcorn "Ve're all new at zis, so don't vorry about embarrassing yourself as long as you know you survived"

"You implying something there Elf?" Logan growled whilst everyone but Stefan chuckled at his comment.

"Kurt?" Stefan asked drawing the elf's attention_ [I think she means your eating habits]_

Kurt tilted his head, which looked comical given that he was currently _upside-down_ eating a bowl of popcorn before realising what his brother meant. Swallowing the mouthful of popcorn Kurt teleported right way up looking sorry for his display.

"Sorry about zat" he said scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'll try to restrain myself in future. Popcorn?"

"It's alright" Kitty said politely pushing away the bowl Kurt's tail was offering to her. "Just like don't do it too often"

The door to the control room opened suddenly to reveal the Professor.

"Scott, prepare the X-jet" the Professor as he wheeled out of the lift. "And since it's the weekend tomorrow assemble the whole team"

"'Red's' not home yet Chuck" said Logan. "You want us to wait for her or is this too important to wait?"

"The latter I'm afraid. Cerebro has picked up a mutant in Cauldicout County Mississippi and her powers are dangerous to her and those around her" the Professor explained.

"Kurt, leave a note in her room, everyone else suit up and saddle up pronto" Scott ordered assuming his role as leader.

~#~

Anna Marie tore through the alleyways seeking solitude from what was happening to her. She was beginning to wish that she had listened to her guardian about not going to the party.

According to her she had a skin condition of some sorts that she thought would hurt her, instead when someone jock at the party had touched her wrist he was put into a coma-like state whilst she was plagued with visions of the guys past.

Now she was running somewhere, anywhere in hopes she might find peace from all this. Eventually coming to a stone bench she sat down trying to regain a sense of who she was and was not.

~#~

Stefan skidded to a halt as he gazed in the direction of where the rogue was located. He had activated his Evil-eye and combined the mental powers of both the Professor and Jean allowing him to listen to nearby thoughts in a half mile radius. Currently he was tracking what sounded like two consciences clashing indicating he was on the right track.

"Snake-eyes to Nightcrawler" he said into his com-link "The rogue should be closer to your group"

"Goth-like appearance Ja?" Kurt asked looking round the corner of a building to look at the girl "If so zen affirmative, I see her. I'll try talking to her until ze Professor reaches our position"

"Make sure you've got your best game face on Elf" came Logan's voice over the com-link.

"I alvays do" Kurt replied "Anyzing else?"

"Yeah, keep an eye on _'Half-pint'_"

"Hey!" Kitty yelled at the com-link before Kurt clasped his hand over her mouth shushing her before she startled their target.

"Why must I get the embarrassing nickname whilst yours is like totally fitting?" she whispered furiously.

Kurt shrugged whilst activating his inducer then walked off towards the rogue not noticing Kitty phase through the wall planning on sneaking up from behind in case the girl tried to run.

'_I'll like show him!'_

~#~

"Guten abend fraulien"

The voice and sudden appearance of a boy a few years younger than Anna Marie startled her from her thoughts.

"Where'd _you_ pop up from?" she asked standing up in case he tried to assault her.

"Just here" the boy teleported to beside her "And zere" then disappeared before reappearing sited atop a nearby fence.

"Raht lil rain of sunshahn ain't ya?" she said wondering if this is what having a younger brother was like; being startled and disturbed without warning.

"Sometimes vhen ve're different all ve must do is make ze most of it" the boy said as he jumped down. "At least zat's vhat mien brozzer says"

"Ah pity him" Anna Marie muttered surprised when he laughed.

"Zat's vhat everyvon says vhen I say zat" said the boy once he had calmed down "Anyvay, jokes aside I am here to offer you ze hand of help and friendship from ze Professor who runs a school for kids like us"

Anna Marie raised an eyebrow "How can ah be sure yah ain't trying to trick me intah bein' yer girlfriend?"

To her amusement he quickly looked about as if making sure no one was eaves dropping before leaning close to her and whispering "Because mien heart already belongs to anozer fraulien"

She was not surprised at that but was surprised when he looked over her shoulder, eyes becoming as wide as saucers before yelling "Kitty no!" before being tackled from behind.

~#~

Kitty cautiously peeked out from the wall she was phasing through to see that she was behind the rogue teen they were after. Carefully she crept up behind her trying to ignore the feeling of Kurt talking to girl.

'_She doesn't know the real Kurt'_ she reasoned to herself _'she also doesn't look so tough'_

Ignoring Kurt, who had noticed what she was about to do, Kitty ran at the girl colliding with her mid-section only to be grabbed and thrown to the ground at Kurt's feet whilst her target remained standing.

"Vait!" Kurt yelled whilst teleporting in front of Anna Marie grabbing her shoulders before she could run off "She didn't mean any harm! She vas just-!"

Anything else Kurt wanted to say was silenced by Anna Marie head butting him knocking him out due to the combined force of the blow and the girl's power.

Kitty looked up from where she had landed to see the girl teleport away clutching her head and Kurt collapsing to the ground whilst Stefan rounded the corner skidding slightly as he ran towards them.

"Kurt!" she screamed quickly scrambling to the fallen elf's location unaware of Stefan's arrival. "Kurt wake up!"

"What happened?!" Stefan asked when he reached them.

Kitty quickly explained what had happened, when she had finished Stefan was scowling slightly. She nearly jumped when he activated his Evil-eye.

"Stay with him until the others arrive!" he said before disappearing in a cloud of brimstone leaving the girl alone with her fallen friend.

"What have I done?" she asked herself as she laid Kurt's head on her lap tears forming in her eyes. "What have I done?"

~#~

_How's that for a cliff hanger?_

_Oh before I forget, the place where Rogue lives before she goes to Bayville, that spelt right?_

_Kindly answer in your review if you would._

_Watch this space & peace out._


	5. The Rogue Recruit

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

**The Rogue Recruit**

Jean quickly walked down the street leading to the institute. Her soccer practice had gone on longer than she had expected and it was way past the 10pm curfew the professor had set. She was beginning to regret turning down Duncan's offer to drive her at least to the gates however she _knew_ that the star football jock was only doing this so that he could get something in return.

'_Typical men!'_ She thought before scratching that last remark when she thought of the men in the institute.

Evan despite not knowing much about girls respected them mostly due to his aunt, Kurt had an amazing knack of knowing how to cheer a girl up with a few well put words if his interactions with Kitty earlier was anything to go by, Stefan was an enigma to her but she knew he would at least listen to a girls problem, the Professor respected everyone as equals although Jean thought that he thought of them as his children whilst Logan although gruff and quiet unless training them always kept a watchful eye on them. And Scott, Scott was her best friend who would never try anything to belittle her, would he?

She was interrupted from her musings when she turned the corner and accidentally walked into someone and actually _bounced _off of said person and onto her rear with a thump.

"Oops. Sorry about that" The person said to her. Looking up she saw what could only be described as the fattest teen in Bayville. "Don't know how many times I've done that to people"

He offered her a hand up but in the process struck a lamppost with his other hand forcing Jean to use telekinesis to stop it from falling on her.

"You're a freak too?" he asks surprised when he sees the lamppost float to the ground. "Bet that's good for thumping folk with"

"That's not what we're supposed to use our powers for" Jean scolded him already deducing that his power was his strength and endurance. "And if you don't mind I've got to be going"

"Hey, hold on" The teen said blocking her path with one hand. "Why don't we grab something to eat and discuss how we _should_ use our powers?"

Jean started to back away from the obese teen. Unfortunately she did not see the fallen lamppost behind her so when her heel struck it she fell backwards striking her head off the hard ground. Losing consciousness she sent out a quick mental call for help before everything went black.

Fred Dukes looked down at the unconscious red head. He had seen her several times at school and each time he did his heart skipped a beat. Unfortunately every time he saw her she was with some guy wearing red shades or another of those goody-two-shoes brats from Xavier's place. Carefully picking her up Fred started walking in the opposite direction of the institute in the hopes of wooing the lovely Miss Grey with a romantic diner in an old run down factory.

~#~

People say that strange things happen in graveyards on a clear night. Anyone in a particular graveyard in the state of Mississippi would quickly tell you it is true if they had seen a Goth teen suddenly appear from nowhere.

"Whit jist happened? Where ahm ah?_ [And how did I get here?]_ Ah can speak German?" The girl asked the empty grounds. "That guy, Kurt, ahm him! Lahk ah was Cody! Ahm catchin on now"

The girl, Anna Marie, looked around the graveyard before smiling for some odd reason. The next moment she was teleporting around the place enjoying herself as she reappeared atop of different tomb stones and stone benches.

"This guy really _is_ a lil ray of sunshahn" She muttered from a branch near the top of a tree. "Ah wonder if he knows the meaning of the word _sadness_?"

"If it weren't for me and a few others he _wouldn't_ be that little ray of sunshine" Came a voice that, for some reason, was very familiar to the girl. Looking down she saw an older version of the boy she head butted earlier except this one was wearing some sort of uniform. Either way it did not matter to her as she teleported down beside him before tackling him in a hug.

"Hey!" Stefan yelled as he tried to free himself from the multi-persona goth. "I don't know if this is how you get together in the U.S. but from where I'm from we get to know someone _then_ squeeze them!"

His words seemed to _awaken_ Anna Marie because she suddenly let go of him whilst her face gained a healthy red hue. "Oh mah gawd! Ahm sorry! It's-it's just-"

"I know, I know" Stefan said trying to calm down the panicking girl. "You've got my brother's memories in there mixing with your own"

"Ya'll look tha same, but if I'm thinkin raht he's furrier then you" She stated before sitting down on the ground and sighing deeply. "When is this ahll gonna end?"

Stefan sat down beside the girl and placed an arm round her shoulders. "That's why we're here, to help _you_ control this power of yours. Although it would be better if I knew what to call you other than rogue"

"Anna Marie" The girl replied. "But ahm actually called Rogue at school"

"Well then _Rogue_, listen up as I tell you about the 'Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters', that means _us_"

~#~

"Come on Fuzzy say something, _please_!" Kitty whispered to the downed elf tears falling down her cheeks.

She was torn between worrying over her best friend and kicking herself for her stupidity. Whilst mostly trying to prove to Wolverine that she could do pretty well for a 'half-pint' as he called her, she had also put more force than necessary into her tackle all because she did not like the girl talking with Kurt.

The reason why? She was jealous. Jealous that some girl was taking away the attention of the first person to help her get control of her powers and be there for her, jealous that her first true friend was talking to a girl _other_ than her. Yet for some reason she could not fathom _why_ she felt that way, just that it felt wrong for some reason.

'_Please don't be dead'_ She thought to herself.

"You'll be relieved to hear that it's not as severe as _that_ Kitty" The Professor said from behind her. "He is merely unconscious for the moment"

"Professor!" Kitty exclaimed as she quickly wiped away her tears before looking round to see the elderly man wheel towards her with the rest of the team.

"Are you alright child?" Storm asked the girl sitting beside the unconscious Nightcrawler.

"She's better than the K-man that's for sure" Spyke remarked earning a glare from his aunt and Kitty.

"The girl should be given a medal for shuttin the elf up" Wolverine said.

"You like shut up!" Kitty yelled at the man. She had still not forgiven him for scaring Kurt the other day. "Don't you like have something totally more important like right now?!"

"Shadowcat's right" Cyclops intervened. "We need to reach Snake-eyes' position whilst he keeps the girl occupied"

"Agreed" The Professor said raising his fingers to his temple homing in on the copy mutants mind with his own. "He is currently in a graveyard east of our position, however I sense someone else's mind there aside from his and the girls"

~#~

"Wow" Rogue commented when Stefan had finished his explanation of who they were, what everyone's powers were and why they were here helping her. "Sounds lahk a great place but, will _ah_ be able tah fit in there?"

"If my fuzzball of a brother can fit in perfectly" Stefan reasoned chuckling slightly. "Then you surely can"

"But what happens if ah accidently touch one of ya'll?" She asked nervously.

Stefan though for a moment. "It depends on which of us you touch, I mean Scott's power you just have to keep your eyes closed...I think, but mostly you just have to stay calm"

Rogue nodded before sighing deeply as she rested her head on Stefan's shoulder. "But what if that fuzzbahll an his crush _don't_ forgive me?"

Stefan's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "You discovered that when you two bumped heads?"

"Har, har" Rogue said shoving him lightly. "Bahfore we 'bumped heads' as yah put it he said something bout his ticker belongin tah some one else, an ah think it's thah gal who trahed tah bring me down"

"Good guess" Stefan said before whipping his head towards the direction of where a twig snapped. "Who's there?!"

A figure moved through the shadows towards them. Stefan quickly put himself between Rogue and whoever was approaching them. Stepping into a circle of light emitted from a nearby street lamp revealed Kurt.

"Forgetting your brother so soon?" He asked Stefan.

"Sheesh fuzzbahll!" Rogue exclaimed letting herself take a deep breath to recover from the shock. "Would yah mahnd _not _doin thaht?"

She made to go over to him and apologize however Stefan stopped her from advancing, a frown marring his features.

"You okay there 'Fuzzy Elf'?" he asked.

"Of course I am" Kurt said before ungracefully diving to the side to avoid an optics blast from his brother. "What's the deal?!"

"Who are you?" he growled before shooting him again with his laser vision forcing Kurt to dive out of the way again whilst Rogue looked on in fear.

"I'm your brother!" Kurt yelled from where he was on the ground.

"Your accent is _gone_, your moves are _not_ that of an acrobat, you haven't _once_ tried to teleport and my _real_ brother told me that only one person can call him 'Fuzzy Elf' so I'll ask one more time" Stefan told the imposter as he stepped towards the imposter. "Who. Are. You?"

Rogue's eyes widened as the furry elf morphed into a blue skinned woman with red hair and white eyes. Both Stefan and Rogue could not help but wonder if she was related to Kurt.

"_Satisfied_?" The woman asked as she leered at the Xman before turning to Rogue. "I would advise you to keep away from these Xmen girl, they treat their own kind as vermin"

"Only if said vermin is trying to make the rest of us look bad in the eyes of the normal" Stefan countered as he blocked the woman's view of the girl. "Now back off if you want your pride in one piece"

The woman said nothing but tried to kick Stefan upside the head forcing Stefan to bend backwards so that he was looking at Rogue upside down. Upon bending back the way he came Stefan's right hand shot out and grabbed the woman's face causing both to yell in pain as he brought out Rogue's absorption powers. Releasing the woman Stefan stumbled back a few steps as a jumble of images flashed before his eyes. Shaking his head to force them to the back of his mind Stefan made to knock the woman out with a psychic-kinetic blast before he heard a familiar voice calling out.

"Jean?" He asked to himself as he looked around.

Unfortunately his distraction gave the woman enough time to recover as well and struck him in the back of his head knocking him to the floor. She morphed into a Bengal tiger to finish him off before the sound of thunder filled her ears. Looking up she saw Storm floating in the air calling forth her namesake making the sky darker than it already was. Knowing a losing battle when she saw one the woman changed into a bird and flew off into the night whilst the rest of the team showed up.

"I was hoping you wouldn't get beaten before our next fight 'Copy-cat', especially by a _woman_" Logan said as he walked over to where Rogue was helping up the copy-cat mutant. "Guess it must run in the family"

He looked over his shoulder when he added that last part to see Scott and Evan carrying Kurt between them with the Professor and a depressed looking Kitty bringing up the rear.

"Who the _holle_ was that?" Stefan asked as he rubbed the lump on the back of his head before Storm moved the appendage so she could inspect the wound herself. "Relax Miss Munroe I'm still using the 'Evil-eye' just now so it'll be gone in a minute"

Their attention was suddenly shifted to Kurt as he gave a soft moan before standing on his own feet and taking in the craters left by Stefan's attack.

"Did I miss ze party?" He asked tiredly as he looked round at every one before being tackled by a happy Shadowcat.

"Kurt! You're alright!" she squealed as she wrapped her arms round his waist giving him a tight hug.

"Only vonce I find out if none of ze eggs in mien basket are scrambled" he joked wrapping his arms around her although he still sounded weak.

"He sounds fahne" Rogue muttered to Stefan who nodded as the two watched the happy but blind couple.

"Give him a few square meals, at least 12 hours of sleep and you'll never know he was down for the count" Stefan stated. "Made me jealous when he recovered from colds and such quicker than me"

Rogue giggled quietly before noticing the Professor wheeling towards her.

"I hope you can forgive us for the misunderstanding child" the Professor said to her. "However I'm afraid proper introductions and the like will have to wait. I received a distress call from Jean on her way here"

"I heard it too" Stefan began to say before he was shoved aside by Scott.

"What's happened to her?! Is she alright?!" He asked sounding panicked.

"Easy 'Shades'" Logan placing a hand on the worried leaders shoulder. "Running in blind will just get you hurt"

"He's right Cyclops" The Professor told him. "Right now we need to get return to the X-jet, whilst on route to Bayville I'll see if I can locate her"

"As long as the pilot ain't Kurt" Evan said nodding his head at the elf that was currently being kept on his feet by Kitty who had one of his arms over her shoulders.

"This is what ah has tah deal with from now on?" Rogue asked the group as they made their way to their mode of transport.

"Deal with it 'Stripes' cause you ain't gotta chance surviving otherwise" Logan told her.

~#~

_R&R especially if you think Rogue's accents too thick_

'_Til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out._


	6. The Ace in the Hole

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

**The Ace in the Hole**

"Any sign of her yet Professor?" Scott asked from the co-pilots seat.

"Be patient young Cyclops" Storm told him from the pilots seat as she adjusted their course. "We have only _just_ taken off and you have asked him _three_ times now"

Scott sighed in exasperation before whipping round to face Stefan who was frowning slightly as if lost in thought. "Snake-eyes, can't you lock onto Jean's location through your Evil-eye's connection or something?"

Stefan shook his head disappointingly. "Doesn't work like that I'm afraid, and even if I could I've used up all my tries until twenty-two odd hours pass"

Rogue, who was sitting in the seat behind him, blinked. "Yah mean yah've gotta tahme limit on them freaky peepers oh yer's?"

"Unfortunately yes" Stefan explained craning his neck to look at her. "Three times maximum in twenty four-hours, luckily it starts recharging after the first use which I used to track you down"

"How could you have used up all your uses already?" Scott inquired angrily interrupting their conversation. "I thought you were more sensible than that"

"And I thought you had a cooler head" Stefan countered seemingly unfazed by Scott's last remark.

"He's just vorried about his _weiblich_" Kurt said before Kitty phased her hand through his headrest to flick him in the back of the head.

"Rest _without_ talking 'Fuzzy Elf'" She scolded although the look on her face was more caring than strict.

Rogue raised an inquiring eyebrow at Stefan remembering something he said to the blue skinned woman they met earlier. Stefan answered raising his own eyebrow as if saying 'do you have to ask?'

"Great, just great" Scott muttered "We've got one member whose rendered himself useless, another whose unable to use his powers properly during his recovery, two day-old recruits that aren't yet ready for the field and a girl whose yet to even _control_ her power leaving just me and a demolisher assuming Storm stays with the Professor aboard the jet"

_[He is _definitely_ worried about his girlfriend]_ Kurt mumbled to Stefan only to get flicked by Kitty again. "Shutting up now"

"Kids" Logan muttered under his breath as he looked at the Professor who had gone into a sort of mind trance in order to find Jean. "You don't know how much I envy you just now Chuck"

~#~

Jean groaned as she returned to the land of the living. The first thing she noticed was the throbbing at the back of her head where it smacked off the pavement. The next thing she realised was that she was bound to a chair with metal pipes and was situated in some sort of abandoned factory she guessed. It was only when she brought her gaze to look ahead that she noticed that she was seated at a table laden with lit candles and an assortment of badly prepared dishes.

'_Oh great'_ She thought sarcastically. _'I've been _abducted_ for dinner and a terrible one at that'_

She attempted to free herself with telekinesis however she was still too sore upstairs to utilise her power. _'What I wouldn't give to have Kitty or Kurt's powers about now'_

'_Jean?'_

'_Professor!'_ Jean called out grateful to hear a familiar voice. _'I need help I'm-'_

'_Calm down'_ the Professor said. _'Now that I can sense your mind I can get a bearing on your location. You just sit tight and focus on recovering we'll be there soon'_

'_I'm not sure I need to worry about the first part' _Jean thought in wry amusement as she sent a mental picture of her current predicament. She suddenly heard loud footsteps indicating the return of her abductor. Thinking quickly Jean pretended to still be knocked out before she heard a familiar voice in the door frame.

"Aw man, she's still unconscious" the voice mumbled before walking away. "And after all the trouble I went through to make a good meal for her"

Jean waited until she could not hear his footsteps before opening one eye slightly to see if he was gone. _'Please hurry, I don't want to imagine what his temper would be like when I tell him the meals a disaster'_

~#~

"Storm, set a course for the abandoned steel factory in the southern downtown district of Bayville" The Professor ordered making all par Logan and Ororo jump.

"Hate to break it to ya Chuck" Logan began. "But there ain't much room to land this girl there"

"It doesn't have to" Scott interrupted. "Storm can hover near the rooftops so that you and I can drop down then head for the nearest clearing"

"And the _rest_ of the brats?" Logan asked quirking an eyebrow awaiting the nuclear eyed teens answer.

"They'll have to stay here" he stated.

"Care to share your reasons Mr Leader?" Stefan asked as he stood from his seat.

Scott rose himself so that he was eye to eye with the somewhat second in command. "For starters Rogue, Spyke and Shadowcat aren't ready for field combat, Nightcrawler can barely teleport without passing out due to Shadowcat's stupidity which is also responsible for you wasting your uses of the 'Evil-eye' rendering yourself useless and leaving only me and Wolverine to go ahead"

Stefan had crossed his arms at the beginning of Scott's lecture and was nodding his head in understanding.

"Good reasons I suppose" he said quietly as if contemplating with himself. "Except I think you missed one"

Before Scott could ask what he forgot Stefan's left hand suddenly slammed open palmed into his right shoulder making him about face. In the time it took to blink Stefan had his left arm wrapped round Scott's neck and grabbed his right just above the elbow placing the stunned leader in a headlock before kicking him in the back of the knee making him kneel on the floor and rendering him defenceless.

"Now I remember" Stefan whispered in the struggling Cyclops' ear. "_Yourself,_ due to your half baked ideas whilst worrying about your true love"

"Enough of this!" the Professor barked. "Snake-eyes release him at once!"

Stefan scoffed as he complied with the Professor's orders only to be sent flying by a right hook from Scott landing in a heap at Rogue's feet. He got up quickly intent on showing how _useless_ he was to their leader.

'_**ENOUGH!**__'_ The Professor yelled in the fighting teens minds making them clutch their heads in pain. "This is no time for you two to be fighting"

"Tell that to _him_!" Scott said spitting in disgust when mentioning Stefan. "He started it!"

"He was making a point 'Shades'" Logan stated as he stepped between the two in case they went to blows again. "You're worrying too much about 'Red' to think straight"

"And just because I'm out of 'Evil-eye' uses doesn't mean I can't do anything" Stefan said as he returned to his seat. "For all you know I might have _another_ trick up my sleeve"

_[You're going to use _that_ brother?]_ Kurt asked before ducking to avoid Kitty's hand as it made to shut him up again only to hit empty space.

_[Yup]_ His brother answered smiling slightly. _[I was wondering when I would reveal it. My _ace in the hole_]_

Kurt could not help but shiver as he remembered the last time his brother used his _other_ power due to the fact that it saved his life back in Germany. He was surprised when Kitty suddenly sat in his lap.

"Like how many times have I like asked you two to totally speak words we all understand?" She asked as she made herself comfortable before flicking Kurt's nose "As well as telling you to like rest _without_ talking?"

"Regardless of what you think Cyclops" The Professor said bringing them back to the topic at hand "Everyone asides me and Storm will go to recue Jean, and I expect you and Snake-eyes to put aside your quarrels understand?"

"Yes Professor" came the acknowledgements from the two eldest teens.

"Humph, kids" Logan muttered as he sat back down.

~#~

The X-jet slowly stopped above the old steel factory where Jean was being kept. Opening its entrance ramp Cyclops and Wolverine quickly ran down and jumped onto the walkway running the length of the roof quietly. After doing a quick check to see if the coast was clear they signalled for the others to jump down.

"We need to hurry before whoever's here hears the jet and comes look-"

The rest of Wolverine's sentence was cut off when a steel beam went smashing through the support for the walkway and narrowly missing the X-jet which veered to one side sending Nightcrawler and Shadowcat off the entrance ramp and plunging to the ground below along with Cyclops, Wolverine, Snake-eyes and Rogue as the walkway gave way under their feet.

Snake-eyes managed to grab hold of a pole with his right hand and used his momentum to swing up and grab Rogue with his legs when she sailed past whilst grabbing Cyclops with his free arm. A skin crawling pop was heard when he felt his arm dislocate from its socket at the sudden opposing force. Shadowcat meanwhile had managed to get her arms round Nightcrawler's waist and was now scrunching her face in concentration as the two went _into_ the ground whilst Wolverine landed in a pile of scrap metal.

Upon hearing both the sound of Snake-eyes shoulder dislocating and yelp of pain Cyclops quickly looked for a place to land. Seeing a walkway beneath them he shot at the roof support for the pole they were hanging from destroying it and swinging them downwards. Snake-eyes, despite the pain and strain, knew what Cyclops was doing and let go of Rogue and the pole whilst Cyclops let go of his dislocated arm allowing them to land safely. They barely had time to get to their feet before Fred threw a rusted air vent at them.

"Go find Jean! We'll keep Roly-poly busy!" Snake-eyes yelled to Cyclops before jumping out the way of a giant wheel that bounced by. Cyclops just nodded before taking off in the opposite direction following the Professors directions via mind talk.

"You ain't taking her from me!" Fred bellowed as he threw whatever he grabbed at the two teens unaware of the recovered Wolverine behind him until he was upon his back.

"Just give us the girl and you won't get hurt bub!" Wolverine snarled as he unsheathed one set of claws in front of Fred's face in hopes to intimidate him.

"You don't scare me!" Fred said as he grabbed Wolverines arm and threw him into a protruding I-beam making a loud clang as the two collided. "Cause I'm the 'Invincible Blob'!"

"How ahppropriate" Rogue stated sarcastically.

"Talk about fitting to a T" Snake-eyes agreed before they both dived out the way of a flying car.

Whilst this was going on Shadowcat and Nightcrawler were just rising back up to ground level so to speak.

"Vhilst I had every faith in you" Nightcrawler started as he tried to stop his legs from shaking "Let's _not_ do zat again. Ja?"

"At least like until I'm totally more familiar with my powers" agreed Shadowcat trying to stop from blushing at his statement. The two watched as the Blob threw all kinds of junk at the rest of the team bar Cyclops who was searching for Jean "We've gotta like get him somewhere that's got like more advantage for us than him"

Nightcrawler nodded before grinning his prankster grin "I know just vhat to do"

~#~

"Jean?" Scott yelled as he skidded to the open doorway to where she was being kept only to dive out the way as a table went flying through the space he previously was.

"Oh my god! Scott I'm sorry!" Jean blurted as she ran to the door frame, which was now shaped like a table, to see if he was okay. She barely got through before she was wrapped in Scott's arms.

"Don't be" he whispered to her as he felt her wrap her arms round him "I'm just glad you're safe"

Jean smiled before collapsing in his arms, drained from using her powers whilst recovering to free herself then sending the table at who she thought was Fred. Scott said nothing but picked her up so he was carrying her bridal style and heading for the exit.

~#~

"Is that _all_ you got?!" the Blob leered at his opponents "This is nothing to the 'Invincible Blob'!"

"Hey 'Humpty-Dumpty'!"

A vain popped in the Blob's head as he turned to the speaker which was Nightcrawler who was leaning on a wall nearby.

"You're only throwing stuff because you can't reach us vith zose little stumps you call _legs_ fatso!" he taunted. "In fact I bet you can't go five steps vizout falling over"

The Blob growled as his vision went red.

"I vonder, vhen you sleep do people mistake you for an escaped hippo or a beached whale?"

The Blob gave a bellowing yell before charging at Nightcrawler who stood his ground. When the Blob had charged through the wall and the dust had settled Nightcrawler could be seen standing where he was before the Blob had charged through.

"Never underestimate ze 'Fuzzy Dude'! Am I right Kitty?" Nightcrawler grinned at his partner who had been holding onto his tail allowing him to escape unfazed from the Blob's mad charge. His grin disappeared when he saw Shadowcat looking pale and shaking like a leaf.

"Gross" she uttered "Totally...gross"

With that she fainted into Nightcrawler's arms.

"_Verdamnt!_" He cursed "I can't believe I'm saying zis but I vished mien tail vas longer zan it vas vhen I- _Was?!_"

Looking up Nightcrawler realised that the rest of the wall was coming down on top of him. Instinctively he tightened his grip around the fainted Shadowcat's frame and teleported out of harm's way welcoming the pain he felt as he appeared elsewhere. A large shadow suddenly cast over him making him look up and regret that he did.

"Eat this!" Blob yelled as he brought his fist down upon the two.

Nightcrawler closed his eyes as he tried vainly to protect Shadowcat from their demise. A deafening boom sounded upon impact yet he felt nothing. Cautiously turning round he grinned widely upon seeing his brother left arm dangling uselessly by his side whilst his right hand was holding up the Blob's fist.

"For a pair of _useless_ brothers" Snake-eyes stated as the Blob fell backwards somehow unconscious "We sure showed him a thing or two"

_~#~_

_How did Stefan survive? Find out next chapter_

_Oh and I apologise if any of Kurt's taunts upset or offended anyone_

_That said 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out_


	7. Explanations

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

_I was gonna update my other fics first however not even I can't withstand murderous stares from Nightcrawler's Shadow & others after the cliff-hanger in the last chapter so hopefully this chapter will make them drop their weapons of torture._

**Explanations**

Scott could not believe what he just saw. Him and Jean had just gotten out of the warehouse she had been held prisoner to see the Blob about to crush Kurt and Kitty. Before anyone could do anything Stefan had gotten between Blob and his target and caught his massive fist in his own. What Scott could not understand was that when Stefan caught the fist instead of crumpling like a paper bag under the weight he just stood there whilst Blob collapsed for no apparent reason. It was safe to assume that Stefan had a trick up his sleeve.

"What in tarnation was that?!" Rogue hollered at the teen as she walked up to him. "Ya'll should've been pancakes after a blow lahk that!"

Stefan just shrugged his right shoulder seeing that his left was still dislocated. The rest of the team gathered round as the Professor, Storm and Evan arrived.

"Is anyone else getting a case of déjà vu here?" Evan asked as he nodded to where Kurt was holding an unconscious Kitty.

"I don't get it" Kurt said as he gently placed Kitty on the ground letting her head rest on his knee.

"Whilst you were snoozing Kit-cat had your head in her lap, lucky guy" Evan explained trying not to smile at the embarrassed look that appeared on Kurt's face. "What happened to her?"

"Apparently the two were acting as bait to draw the big guy away from his ammo" Login answered. "'Half-pint was on one side of the wall holdin 'Elf's' tail whilst he was on the other side taunting him into charging through 'im. It worked tho she fainted after phasing through the guy, typical teen"

"Then how did you defeat _jumbo_ there?" Evan asked indicating the unconscious Blob.

"Ask 'Snake-fer-Brains'" Rogue told him jerking her thumb at the guy who was looking at her like he was insulted whilst Storm was looking over his left arm. "The guy caught _Tubby's_ fist yet Tubby was thah one tah fall"

"Gross..." Kitty mumbled as she stirred causing them all to turn to the awakening teen. "I _so_ need a bath when I get home"

She suddenly bolted up when Stefan yelled in pain at getting his left arm shoved back into its socket before cursing in several different languages. She then turned to Kurt who was kneeling beside her to ask for a translation but he just shook his head apparently unable to understand anything other than the German words used but did not want to translate.

"Like, what happened? And where's that _Fatso_?" She asked shivering as she remembered phasing through him. _'Gross'_

"Fred's unconscious" Scott told the girl. "As to _how_ is what we're waiting for Stefan to tell"

Stefan, who until this moment was trying to get the soreness out of his left arm, looked up when he heard his name. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Don't act thah fool 'Snake-fer-Brains' yer too smart fer that!" Rogue said as she pointed at him. "Tell us what happened or ah'll fahnd out mahself!"

She was surprised when he turned a sorrow filled face to his brother as if asking for forgiveness for what he was about to say. Kurt nodded whilst sporting a similar expression on his face indicating that his brother's hidden power had some kind of terrible history behind it or something along those lines.

"I redirected the energy vectors" Stefan started. "Basically it's like rearranging the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. By catching the blow in my hand, in a split second, I rearranged the space around me and the Blob thanks to the distortions so that the force and power of the attack he sent was redirected to strike him in the back of the head rendering him unconscious"

"What are these distortions you mention?" Jean asked of him. "And how can you see them?"

Stefan tapped the skin beside his eyes. "My 'Evil-eyes' got a permanent active ability that lets me see the world how it truly looks. As for the distortions, well it's kind of like looking at people through a sheet of graph paper where as the distortions are the gaps that are between the graph squares"

It was safe for Stefan to assume that apart from the Professor, Storm, his brother and maybe Jean that no one understood what he was on about.

"Okay, imagine an ordinary picture and put a graph on top of it" Stefan tried to explain. "The lines should be unseen, even just hairline cracks, when you can see the lines more clearly then you have a distortion"

"So when Fred's hand came into contact with yours" Jean began. "You moved the 'graph square' that held its force to behind his head, right?"

"Bingo!" Stefan said snapping his fingers and pointing to her. "Right on the money"

"But why didn't you tell us?" Scott asked. "Why try and hide it instead of mastering it?"

The cheerful look that had shown on Stefan's face when Jean caught on disappeared. "I didn't want to bring up bad memories"

"It vas going to happen sooner or later brozzer" Kurt mumbled now looking as blue as his fur.

Kitty looked between the two brothers. "Like what do you mean like 'bad memories'? Could you like stop speaking in riddles?"

She apparently struck a nerve as Stefan walked up to her and lifted her by the shoulders so that they were eye to eye.

"Put it this way" He spoke in a low tone that scared the girl. "If it weren't for the Professor, Kurt would've had a _prime seat_ for the re-enactment of the medieval witch burnings"

He let go of the girl, whose eyes were wide as she understood what he meant, and walked off in the direction of the institute hoping the walk home would help defuse his temper. Rogue was about to follow after him when Storm grabbed her by the shoulder shaking her head.

"He needs time to himself" The Professor told the girl before turning to the rest of them. "And we should be heading home as well"

Everyone else nodded mutely before they started making their way back to the X-jet. Rogue remained where she was staring off in the direction Stefan had gone before following after the rest of the group.

~#~#~

"Vhat a day" Kurt mumbled as he got under the covers. "Mien limbs are now vet spaghetti until breakfast ze day _after_ tomorrow"

"Kurt?" A timid voice whispered from behind the door to his room that he had no trouble recognising. "Can I come in please?"

"Only if you don't mind talking to a talking corpse" He joked his ears picking up the faint sound of her laughter.

"That'll like have to do I suppose" She replied as she phased through his door and walked towards his bed. "Could you like budge over a bit?"

"Don't have ze strength I'm afraid" He answered smiling apologetically.

Kitty shrugged before phasing herself under the bed then back to the top, under the covers and a surprised Kurt's arm. "This is like way better actually"

"Be zankful zat I'm on my side" Kurt managed to say without stammering thankful that his fur could hide his blush. "Vhat brings you here at two in ze morning?"

Kitty stayed silent for the moment. She was currently enjoying being in his arms whilst at the same time preventing herself from blushing. "I just...want to...like...apologise for tonight"

Kurt had to re-establish a connection to his memories in order to figure out what she was apologising for. "I guess I should say sorry for vhat happened vith ze Blob as vell"

Kitty smiled at him. "Let's just call it evens and like leave it at that, yeah?"

Kurt smiled lightly himself before putting what strength he had left to his arm that was draped over Kitty to hug her closer to him whilst the girl snuggled into his chest. "Ja, let's"

The two remained quiet, letting only the sounds of their breathing permeate through the silent air. It was several minutes later when Kitty's voice disrupted the quiet.

"Could you like tell me what happened back in Germany?" Immediately after she asked that she felt Kurt tense up as if he just received some very bad news. "I know it must like be so terrifying for you, but you'll totally feel better if you like talked about it"

Kurt nodded slowly as he calmed down whilst Kitty stroked the fur on his cheek. Sighing deeply Kurt began his tale.

_{~#~}_

_Kurt panted as he ran down the street on all fours, trying desperately to get away from the mob that was chasing him waving lit torches and pitchforks. He nearly lost his footing as he made a sharp turn into an alley before teleporting to another alley going in the opposite direction. He hid himself behind a large barrel as he tried to regain his breath._

"_Why do they believe the words of a five year old yet not let a sixteen year old utter one word?" He sobbed into his hands as he curled into a ball as his tail wrapped itself around him. "I'm just like them, just like them but furrier"_

"_Don't you dare try and compare yourself to us demon!" Said a gruff voice as he felt himself get pulled up by his neck roughly. "I've found him! He's over-!"_

_The man who was calling to the rest of the mob fell silent as he was knocked out. He fell forward releasing Kurt to reveal Stefan behind him wielding a plank of wood that looked like it was swung against something hard, like the man's head._

"_Brother!" Kurt exclaimed as he jumped into Stefan's arms and started crying. "I thought no one was going to help me"_

"_I couldn't forgive myself if I just left you to fend for yourself" Stefan whispered to his younger brother as he tightened his hold on him. "We've got to get out of town, Mother will signal for us when it's safe"_

_The two brothers had barely made it to the end of the street before they found themselves captured by several villagers. They were then dragged to the village square where a lone wooden pillar was standing amidst a small hill of firewood. Kurt, upon seeing where he was going began struggling for all he was worth whilst screaming for Stefan who was trying to free himself from the grip of the two villagers holding his arms._

_He eventually managed to free himself by striking one of the villagers in the knee with his foot allowing him to use his free arm to throat chop the other villager. Once free of his captors Stefan ran over to the group trying to hold his struggling brother. He was suddenly confronted by the leader of the mob who punched him in the face making him fall down before being kicked in the gut._

"_Snap out of it boy he's a demon not your brother!" He yelled at the teen whilst others watched. _

"_You're the one's that should snap out of it!" Stefan threw back as he stood up unscathed making the leader's eyes bulge._

"_Then I'll send you on ahead of him!" He hollered as he stuck him in the face three times feeling bones snap upon connection. _

_Yet not only was Stefan still standing he had no signs of being beaten up whilst the men holding Kurt were clutching their faces, or stomach for one, crying in agony allowing Kurt to return to his brother's side. The scary part was that all of their injuries were the ones that Stefan should have suffered. Had someone been watching Stefan carefully during the fight they would have noticed that each moment before the leader struck him they would have seen Stefan quickly catch the blow in one of his hands then pretend he had suffered the blow until he had redirected enough blows to knockout his little brothers captors._

"_What are you?" The leader spoke hoarsely._

"_Use your head pug-face!" Stefan spat as his eyes went all snake like. "If my brother's a demon, then that makes me one as well"_

_The crowd that had gathered during the spectacle had backed away when they saw Stefan's eyes. The mob leader however spat at the brothers before pulling out a pistol and aiming it at the older one._

"_Let's see you avoid this Houdini!" He shouted as he pulled back the hammer._

_Stefan put both hands out in front of him hoping his quick estimate as to where the man was aiming was correct. However the man did not shoot. In fact now that he thought about it he did not even move. _No one_ moved asides him and Kurt._

"_What did you do brother?" Kurt asked as he looked around cautiously._

"_Nothing" Stefan answered just as confused as Kurt. "I didn't do anything"_

"It was me_"_

_Turning in the direction of the foreign voice the two brothers saw an old man in a wheelchair roll towards them._

"My name is Charles Xavier and I am here to offer you a place at my home for people like yourselves and help with your gifts_"_

_{~#~}_

"After zat he took us back to our home, let brozzer copy his power to see if he vas lying zen here ve are" Kurt finished.

Both himself and Kitty were crying slightly when he finished his tale. Kitty wiped her eyes before hugging Kurt tightly.

"I'm like glad you told me" She whispered as she felt herself drift off to sleep.

"Me too _mien lieb_, me too" She heard him say before sleep finally took its hold on her.

Kurt looked at the girl in his arms before kissing her lightly on the forehead making her smile before he too succumbed to the sand-mans power. Neither of them noticed the door to the room open ajar allowing Stefan to look in on them smiling both happily and sadly at the same time. He started making his way toward his own room before Scott stepped out in front of him.

"Just because he's found someone else means he won't need you anymore" He said.

"Yeah I know" Stefan muttered. "Look, about on the jet-"

"Forget about it" Scott cut him off. "You were right, I wasn't thinking straight. Guess I really did see red"

Stefan chuckled as he moved past him. "Now all you have to do is admit to her that you love her and we won't have to watch you dance around one another"

Scott could not help but chuckle himself. "Easier said than done Stefan"

"But it's doable all the same" Stefan countered as he walked off. "See you in about four hours for breakfast"

"Make sure you check in on Rogue on your way to your room" Scott called after him making Stefan stop in his tracks. "She seemed worried about you when you took off at the factory"

"I'll say hi in the morning" Stefan replied as he continued walking. "We've all had a rough night"

Scott chuckled as he headed off to his own room. Despite his red shades he could tell that Stefan was blushing if barely.

'_He's got more free time now anyway' _He thought to himself._ 'Guess it must be a Wagner's charm'_

_~#~_

_There now can Shadow, Knight, Shaitan & others please stop plotting my demise?_

_R&R _

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out._


	8. Fighting Fit

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

**Fighting Fit**

"That's it...not...another...step!" Evan gasped as he collapsed in a pile trying to swallow as much air as possible. His clothes, or what remained of them, looked like they had just been used as Logan's scratch post.

"Now ya see whah we all dropped out ahfter thah first lap 'Porcupahne'" Said Rogue as she gestured to herself Jean and Kitty.

It had been a week since Rogue had joined the teens and since summer was just round the corner, Logan had decided to give the teens an outdoor fitness drill that was to last the whole weekend. Unfortunately Logan's idea of exercise was everyone else's idea of survival training and it was not even mid-day yet.

He had set up a circuit for the teens to run after breakfast and told them to run laps until they could not go any further without using their powers much to Kurt's dismay. What he failed to mention was that each time they completed a lap the course would get harder. The girls, after managing to complete one lap with minor bumps and bruises, decided to just stop there and then and watch the guys embarrass themselves. Evan had barely managed to complete his second lap before throwing in the towel before he ended up walking around _au natural_ leaving Scott, Stefan and Kurt to begin their third lap.

"Look at it this way Evan" Jean said to the collapsed boy. "At least you lasted longer than us girls"

Evan nodded whilst he looked over the training course trying to spot the remaining runners. "Yeah but compared to _them_ I might as well be a girl, how can they still be running?"

"Well Scott always used to do extra danger room sessions when it was just me and him whenever he had some free time" Jean explained. "And I doubt Kurt's...looks gives him higher endurance and such"

"Kurt _does_ have inhuman gymnastic and acrobatic abilities because of the X-gene" Kitty stated. "But it's like mostly due to his time at the circus that totally keeps him in shape"

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "An yah know all bout thaht _how_?"

Kitty looked away as her cheeks brightened. "We like...talked about our pasts a bit...before coming here you know?"

Rogue's upraised eyebrow was joined by its companion whilst Jean and Evan contained their laughter. "Ya'll been havin more midnaht meetings since last tahme?"

Kitty groaned. Rogue and Jean had caught her coming out of Kurt's room the morning after Kurt explained what had happened back in Germany and they teased her about it ever since. It got worse when they told the rest of the team.

"Look for the last time, I only wanted to help Kurt get over it so that Stefan could use his distortion thingy without having to worry about reminding his brother about it" Kitty explained as if she knew what to say off by heart. "It like actually helps to talk to someone about this sort of stuff"

Jean stared at Kitty in amazement. "Did you take a psychology class or something?"

"It was an after school thing back at my old school last semester" Kitty shrugged. "Passed it easily enough"

Evan stared wide eyed at the girl. "Man, there anything you _not_ good at?"

At his question Kitty looked at her feet in embarrassment before mumbling something. The others leaned in closer whilst Evan asked her to repeat what she said.

"I said I'm like rubbish in gym class!" The girl all but shouted causing them to jump back.

"No need tah freak about it" Rogue said putting her hands in front of her whilst Evan burst out laughing.

"This is great" Evan laughed. "A cat that _can't_ land on her feet! Man, what're the odds of that?"

"I'm sure Kurt wouldn't mind helping you with that Kitty" Jean said consoling the now upset girl. "Given what you've done to help him I'm sure he would want to return the favour"

"Puh-lease!" Rogue snorted. "Ah've only been here ah week an ah can tell that that fuzzbahll would do _anything_ tah cheer up or help _tiny_ here whether he owes her or not"

"Are you like implying what I think you're implying?" Kitty asked a little angry at the tiny compliment.

"If yah think ah'm implahying that ah think you and fuzzbahll are as blahnd as yah are stupid when it comes to yer love fer one anothah then yer rahght" Rogue replied smiling when she saw Kitty's face go a beet red whilst Evan was trying miserably to understand what the goth just said.

"Well...maybe I'll like totally take up Jean's suggestion" Kitty said getting looks of surprise from the other three. She waited a moment allowing her words to sink in before bringing out the big guns. "That way you'll like be able to flirt with Stefan without Kurt interrupting _anything_"

Jean and Evan had to cover their mouths to stop from laughing out loud at Rogue's stunned face. She sat there cheeks red, mouth opening and closing wordlessly several times before she could formulate a sentence.

"An whah would ah want tah flirt with 'Snake-fer-brains' exactly?" Rogue demanded trying to control her blush.

"Now now girls" Jean said as she stepped in between them. "Let's not start fighting about who should be with who here"

She immediately regretted it when they focused their gaze on her.

"Like you're one to talk" Kitty stated crossing her arms.

"Yeah, you an 'Fearless Leader' seem tah be quite _close_" Rogue finished.

"Especially after that factory fiasco" Evan added.

Anything else they wanted to say to the girl was cut off by a nearby explosion indicating the boys were about to finish their third lap. First to come round the corner was Scott followed closely by Kurt who came skidding round and sliding for a few feet before following Scott on all fours whilst Stefan came round the corner leaning over so far as he turned that he was nearly parallel to the ground. All three where looking like they just escaped a warzone yet none of them had any intention of stopping as they began their fourth lap.

"Man, no offense to Kurt but are they even _human_?" Evan asked as they watched the three carry on before each falling victim to lap fours new obstacles.

Stefan was the first to get taken out; he had shot ahead of the other two when the paving tiles shot up into the air on pillars six feet high. He had managed to keep his balance and keep on going before one of the raised tiles gave way underneath him causing him to drop to the ground. He had been able to roll to his feet and continue thanks to his momentum only to be clothes lined by a pole swinging out striking him in the chest making him back flip and land on his chest forcing him to give up whilst he tried to regain the breath he just lost.

Kurt was the next to go out; both he and Scott had wisely dropped back a pace hen Stefan went air born before continuing. When the pole swung out and caught Stefan, Kurt jumped onto the pole and used it as a springboard to propel him further. Unfortunately he unknowingly landed on a hidden catapult that sent him flying into a mud pit near where Evan and the girls were watching.

Scott's fall was rather anticlimactic compared to the other two; he got caught in a simple trap and ended up hanging from a tree by his foot from a piece of rope.

"Talk about catching you on the flipside" Stefan mumbled rolling over before trying to sit up only to collapse on his back with exhaustion.

"Hey, 'Snake-fer-brains'" Stefan opened one eye to see Rogue standing above him holding up two fingers. "How many fingers am ah holding up?"

Stefan coughed as a chuckle escaped him before raising a hand and giving her the finger. "How many am _I_ holding up?"

He received her answer in the form of a soft kick to his head. "Yeh'll live"

"A little help _here_!" Scott called out to his friends whilst clutching his shades so that they did not fall off and he accidentally blasted one of them. He need not have bothered as the rope holding him up suddenly snaps sending him to the ground. "Oof! Never mind"

"Is it next fall already?" Kurt joked as he dragged himself out of the mud pit and looked at himself. "Zis is going to be murder to get out of mien fur"

"You know mud is actually good for the skin" Kitty explained to the muddy elf before regretting it when he looked at her with a mischievous grin. "Oh don't even think about it Fuzzy Elf!"

Kurt's grin widened as he walked towards the girl who was now backing off as he gathered a handful of mud. "_Vhat_? I'm only help you make sure your skin has a healthy complexion"

With that he threw the projectile at Kitty who quickly phased so that it went through her. Kitty smiled in triumph before her eyes widened when she heard Jean shriek behind her. Whipping round she saw the red head wiping mud off her front.

"Sorry Jean! I didn't know you were- EeeeK!" Kitty screamed suddenly as Kurt had snuck up behind her whilst she was distracted and shoved another handful of mud down the back of her top. "Kuuurrrrrt!"

The said elf was having trouble standing as he was nearly bent double with laughter at the girl who had arched her back as she tried to get the mud out from under her top. He was therefore surprised when said girl suddenly tackled him sending both into the mud pit. The rest of the teens roared with laughter at the two's antics before a heavy down pour started over their heads accompanied by the rumbles of thunder.

"I don't recall mud wrestling part of Wolverine's program" Ororo said smiling herself as she appeared beside them whilst Kurt teleported himself and Kitty out of the mud pit.

"It ain't" came a familiar growl from the branches above them. Looking up they saw Logan sitting on a branch above their heads, the girls eep'ed as they realised he had overheard them talking. Landing lightly he walked towards the group.

"Now whilst I was pleased that _some_ of you tried to reach their limit" He nodded his head at the three boys looking like they were just found after being stranded on a desolate island for a month. "I'm rather disappointed with the rest of you. Porcupine, Red, you two do sports so I expected the two of you to last longer"

"I'm a city guy!" Evan stated as if that explained everything. "I do basketball not your version of 'Ninja Warrior'!"

Logan growled silencing the boy.

"Either way, seeing as how you ain't got the stamina for this and your aunt stepping in" He shot a look at Ororo as he said that. "I'm gonna hafta go easier on ya's"

The younger teens cheered at his statement before Logan's next order silenced them better than his growling. "So after you lot get cleaned up you're gonna jog _round_ Bayville's outskirts"

"But it's more zan two miles just to go straight to school!" Kurt protested.

"So?" Logan shrugged before pointing towards the institute. "Now get changed then meet up at the gate to the place. And if you lot ain't back by one then you'll have to go _without_ lunch"

The prospect of not being able to eat for another eight hours obviously struck an alarm bell in Kurt's head as he disappeared in a puff of smoke whilst the others walked back at a more brisk pace.

"Happy _now_?" Logan asked the weather witch once the kids were out of earshot.

"I'll admit it's easier but I was expecting you to just make them do laps_ without_ the obstacles" Ororo answered. "They're just kids Wolverine you should let them be just that now and again"

Logan scoffed as he walked off towards the institute. "When I was their age I was running through a minefield dodging bullets"

~#~#~

"Come on you guys! Keep up the pace!" Scott yelled from the head of the group.

"Shouldn't that be Kurt's line?" Jean asked getting a laugh out of Stefan who was beside her.

"Nah, he'd be saying '_pick up_ the pace'"

The group were jogging at a steady pace around the out skirts of town and were making good progress as they were nearly half way through the exercise and it was only just after eleven.

"Hey Kurt?" Kitty called to the disguised elf beside her. "How do you like know how far it is from the mansion to the school?"

"I can only 'bamf' as far as two miles" Kurt explained as he tried to cope with running on two legs. "Und even zen it's only to places I can see or know well"

"'Bamf'?" Kitty asked curiously causing the elf to look a bit embarrassed.

"It's vhat it sounds like vhen I teleport" Kurt replied awkwardly making Kitty look at him suspiciously. "It's ze truth!"

Kitty continued to look suspiciously at him for a few more seconds before dropping it; she could always ask Stefan later she reasoned. A few seconds later the girls suddenly shrieked simultaneously whilst clutching their backsides causing the rest of the group to stop in their tracks.

"Quite-a-few-sreamers-in-the-group" Came a fast voice from directly in front of them. Standing before them was a teen with slicked back white hair and pale skin with a confident look on his face.

"Pietro?" Evan exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"You know that pretty-boy?" Stefan asked jerking his thumb at the guy. The next thing he realised that Pietro was right in front of him.

"The-names-Quicksilver-X-whimp!" He said in a blur before quickly moving to behind Stefan's back. "Care-to-guess-why?"

Stefan's leg suddenly snapped into Pietro's after image whilst the real thing was leaning next to a tree. "Because you _quickly sliver_ away at the first sign of trouble?"

"Stand down Stefan!" Scott ordered bringing his right hand up to his shades.

Suddenly a long thin slimy rope shot out of the nearby bushes latching onto his shades and yanking them off. Once the rope disappeared into the bush someone jumped out of them landing between Kitty and Kurt, who backed off due to the stench he was giving off, with Scott's glasses wrapped in his tongue.

"Hey, nice shades yo!" he said placing them on his head. "Yo, talk about seeing red!"

"Ewww!" Kitty whined as she took several steps back whilst holding her nose. "You like ever heard of a _bath_?"

"Brimstone smells like roses compared to zis!" Kurt agreed nearly collapsing under the pain his nose was in.

"Much as I'd hate to admit it you're right" Came a voice both Kurt and Kitty recognised from behind them.

"Vhat do you vant zis time?" Kurt growled at Lance as he stepped in front of Kitty.

"It's not what _I_ want _demon_!" Lance spat.

"It's what _we_ want!" Said Fred as he stepped out of the trees.

"Does anyone else here get thah feelin we're about tah rumble?" Rogue asked whilst Evan lived up to his call sign by producing spikes all over his body.

"We're-just-here-to-introduce-ourselves-'blacksheep'" Pietro told Rogue from right behind her causing the girl to spin round hand raised only to swipe air.

"We're the _Brotherhood of Mutants_ X-geeks!" Lance said leering at them. "And your days are numbered, let's go guys!"

With that the four walked off to a nearby housing estate with a sign out front saying 'Brotherhood Boarding House'. The teens had unknowingly jogged into their territory.

"Give back the loser's shades Toad!" Lance suddenly barked at the toad-like teen. "Wouldn't want the guy not seeing his own _defeat_!"

"Gladly yo" Toad said before grabbing the shades with his tongue and flicking them towards Scott who still had his hands over his eyes. "Don't know how anyone can see through them things yo!"

Jean caught the flying shades with her telekinesis and wiped off as much slime as she could before placing them into Scott's waiting hand.

"Looks like we've found our rivals" Stefan muttered as he watched their retreating backs.

"Wunderbar" Kurt said sarcastically before looking at his watch. "Now let's get going ourselves! We've still got un hour und a half before ve miss lunch!"

"Does he like think of anything other than _trying_ to fill his stomach?" Kitty asked as the rest of them followed Kurt's suggestion.

"You and I both know the answer to that one" Stefan answered the girl as he jogged beside her. "And that's why _you_ can't help but love him"

"Yeah" Kitty sighed smiling distractedly before realising what was said. "I mean, who could love someone like him?"

Stefan stifled his laughter before jogging on ahead, not without throwing back. "You'll find out if you look in a mirror!"

Kitty was actually glad that she was at the end of the group; she could not stop blushing until they reached the gates of the institute.

_~#~_

_Was hoping to finish this yesterday, oh well._

_As always R&R_

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out._


	9. House Rivalry

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

**House Rivalry**

"Brozzer!" Kurt wailed as he teleported into his older brother's room making Stefan sit up quickly as if he had just been electrocuted. "It's terrible!"

"What's wrong?!" Stefan asked the panicking elf.

"Its ze end of ze vorld" Kurt wailed as he jumped onto the end of the bed. "Zere is no more German sausages left!"

A flying pillow caught the now laughing elf square in the face sending him over the edge whilst Stefan collapsed back onto his bed.

"Trust you to be thinking with your _stomach_" Stefan mumbled before glancing at the clock on his bedside table which read 6:33. "We should have been up and practicing by now"

Despite being true to his word, Logan had trained the teens until they could not even put one foot in front of the other without wincing in pain. It was worse for Stefan as he was starting to have strange dreams that had him running through a snowy forest carrying something in his arms or sitting behind a teacher's desk in the very school he was going to if he was not mistaken. Yet he only got brief glimpses of either dream as if they were one frame pictures placed in an entirely different movie.

He was brought out of his train of thought when Kurt teleported onto the bed beside him and snuggled into his side. Stefan gently stroked the fur on the back of his fuzzy brother's neck making him purr softly.

"You're just an oversized blue cat" Stefan joked as he slowly began to fall back to sleep.

"At least I'm house trained" Kurt countered as he savoured the comfort that only his brother could give him.

'_How long has it been since we've had a moment like this?'_ Stefan pondered several minutes later as he looked back over the time they had been at the mansion. During the first week he would often find Kurt either snuggled into his side like he was now or curled up at his feet when he woke up. After Kitty arrived and the little talk Kurt and her had after the skirmish at the factory Kurt had apparently out grown his need for his brothers company and was starting to forge his own path through life. Since having watched out for his furry sibling ever since the fuzzball started wandering about getting into mischief Stefan could not help but feel like he was being forgotten.

'_I've been looking after him for so long I've been unable to do anything for myself' _Stefan thought. _'I'm actually starting to feel lost and alone'_

Upon seeing his brother look sad about something Kurt nudged him gently in the ribs making him jump slightly before turning towards him.

"Franc for your thoughts brozzer?" He asked having never seen him like this before.

Stefan shook his head before shoving his brother off the bed. "My thoughts are worth more than one franc Kurt, now get dressed and we'll see what's _left_ for breakfast"

At this Kurt poked his head up over the edge of the bed and grinned mischievously. "_Already had_, zat's vhy zere's no more sausages"

Kurt quickly teleported to the chandelier whilst Stefan pounced on the spot he was previously occupying clearly wanting to punish the mischievous little elf.

"In that case why don't you wake up your _girlfriend_ and her roommate" Stefan said putting emphasis on girlfriend so that his brother would take the bait.

"Kitty is _not_my girlfriend brozzer" Kurt said not looking at Stefan who was now smirking.

"I just said girlfriend I never said Kitty at all"

Realising he had been tricked Kurt teleported out of the room and into his own room his face now sporting purple cheeks.

~#~#~

"We're gonna have to be more careful at school from now on guys" Scott said as the teens entered the garage and headed towards the leaders car aside Stefan who was putting on his helmet as he went over to his motorbike.

"Man if this is about the Brotherhood then don't bother" Evan said as he vaulted into the backseat whilst Kurt teleported into the seat opposite him leaving Kitty to phase through the car and Kurt to sit between them. "We out number them nearly two to one and that's _without_ including Auntie O and Wolverine"

"Exactly" Scott said as he got in the driver's seat. "That means they will be trying to pick fights with us when we are all separated"

"Great" Kitty muttered shivering slightly as she remembered her last meeting with Lance before Kurt showed up.

"Relax Kitty" Kurt said as he put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "If zey try anyzing zen just call out to Jean und she'll tell me und I'll bamf to your side und take you avay from zem"

Kitty nodded as she leaned against her furry friend. She suddenly noticed that Rogue was not with them in the car as it pulled out of the garage. Before she could move out of Kurt's embrace and try to look about for her Stefan pulled up next to them on his bike with Rogue seated behind him her arms wrapped round his waist.

"Trying to get closer to him Rogue?" She teased.

"Better than getting fur on mah clothes in thaht car!" Rogue shot back. "An yer one tah talk about gettin close tah someone!"

Realising what she meant Kurt and Kitty quickly broke apart both of them sporting pink, or purple in Kurt's case, cheeks. Rogue smiled and was about to say something else when Stefan suddenly revved up his bike making it shoot out the mansions front gate on its back wheel whilst Rogue screamed as she tightened her hold on him. When the bike went back onto both wheels Rogue could feel Stefan's body shake with laughter.

"Whit in tarnation was thaht fer 'Snake-fer-brains'!?" She screamed at him hitting him on the shoulder with one hand whilst the other stayed firmly round his waist. "Trah thaht again an ah'll _borrow_ yer powers 'n memories!"

Stefan just stayed silent and kept his eyes on the road trying hard not to laugh at the rather girly scream that came from his passenger's lips. When they stopped at a red light Scott's car caught up to them and the two could see that they were laughing as well.

"I didn't know you could scream so loud Rogue" Scott joked as he stopped the car.

"I bet the Professor and the others heard it back at the mansion" Kitty managed to get out before burying her face into Kurt's shoulder to muffle her laughter. Rogue groaned in embarrassment as she buried her own head into Stefan's back.

When the lights went green the two vehicles set off in the direction of the school once more only to swerve to avoid a jeep that drifted round the corner and almost crash into Stefan and Rogue had Stefan not seen it coming and accelerated whilst banking hard to the left just missing Scott's car which had screeched to a halt a split second ago. The jeep, apparently not caring for others, drove off into the distance.

"_Gott en Himmel_ that was close!" Stefan gasped as he stopped the bike before craning his neck round to try and look at Rogue who was now clinging to him like her life depended on it. "You okay?"

Rogue nodded before mumbling something about going home in the car.

"Are you two alright?!" Jean called out to them as the car approached them.

"Miraculously, yeah" Stefan answered feeling his heart rate start to slow. "I get the feeling we're gonna hafta keep our guard up period whenever we go out Scott"

Scott nodded as he looked in the direction the Brotherhood's jeep had gone.

~#~#~

"You see them faces yo?!" Todd laughed from Fred's shoulder as Lance parked the jeep in the school parking lot.

"Too-easy!" Pietro scoffed before dashing out of the car and sitting on the jeep's hood and began scoping out the girls that were walking through the main entrance into the building. "This-will-be-a-cake-walk"

"Don't get cocky now Pietro" Lance said as he got out the driver's seat. "They're more dangerous than they look"

"You just saying that cuz you got beat by them foreign freaks" Fred put in referring to Kurt and Stefan.

"Yeah well so did you!" Lance shot back before Todd interrupted.

"Yo! Here they come" He said pointing towards the red convertible and silver motor bike that just pulled into the lot. "So which one should we pick on first, yo?"

Pietro snorted. "_We_? I'll-take-them-out-one-by-one-_myself_"

"You serious?!" Lance exclaimed the other two gawked at him as well.

"Think-I-can't?" Pietro asked.

Lance jerked his head over to the group. "The one who knocked me and Blob out for the count, the taller of the two German jerks, he won't be easy"

Lance was still angry at Stefan for their last encounter. The guy had the nerve to offer him some place at this old man's mansion that allowed him to master his powers. He refused and tried to prove his point by burying the guy only to have his attack backfire.

#~#

"_What the hell?!" Lance exclaimed as his tremor was stopped before it reached Stefan's feet. "What did you do?!"_

_Stefan smirked as he walked towards his opponent. "My power can copy your power, so I did just that then sent a wave of the same magnitude against yours cancelling both out. Still think you can master your powers without the Professor's help Alvers?"_

"_The name's_ Avalanche_!" Lance growled clenching his fists making the ground tremble. "And I'm gonna_ rock you_!"_

_He then sent a violent tremor that made Stefan back flip off the now rising concrete slab he was on and continued flipping until he had doubled the distance between them._

"_I'll take that as a no" Stefan sighed before thrusting his hands open palmed diagonally down making what look like a wave of earth rocks and gravel go tumbling towards a stunned Lance almost burying him._

#~#

Lance shook his head to rid himself of the memory. "I'm telling you Pietro going against him face to face will give you a beating you never saw coming"

"Oooooh! Is that a _challenge_?" Pietro asked speaking slowly so that Lance could hear him. "Fine, I'll-beat-him-first"

Lance just sighed as they four of them headed off to first period. _'I tried to warn him'_

~#~#~

Rogue sighed in relief as she opened her locker to put her books away. She had managed to stumble her way through the first half of the school day without being bugged by the Brotherhood _and_not paying too much attention to Stefan. She did not know why but she felt drawn to him; probably the same way Kitty was drawn to Kurt she mused. Shaking such thoughts from her head she closed her locker door only to jump when she saw the guy plaguing her thoughts leaning on the locker beside it.

"Jeez!" She muttered as she tried to calm down. "At least thaht's _one _thing you an yer brothah have in common; poppin up unexpectedly"

"My bad" Stefan apologised as he pushed himself off the locker he was leaning against.

"Is there a reason whah yer stalking me" Rogue asked as the two of them headed towards the cafeteria.

"Just wanted to apologise for the scare I gave you when we left the mansion" Stefan said scratching the back of his head in embarrassment for what he did.

Rogue smiled happy that at least one of the Wagner's apologised for their antics. "Yah were just peeved thaht ah broke up thah happy couple"

"Guilty as charged" Stefan admitted making them both laugh. "You have to admit that they would make a cute couple"

"Plus it'll get tah fuzzbahll off yer back" Rogue added before cringing seeing as Stefan's mood seemed to suddenly downfall. "He'll still need yah, jus lahk the rest of us do"

"How?" Stefan asked curiosity getting the better of him.

"We got paired fer thah Drama project remember?" Rogue explained getting a nod from him. "So whah don we grab a quick lunch then find a quiet place tah practice"

"Is that a date?" Stefan teased earning a shove from the goth teen.

"You wish!" She grumbled good naturedly hoping that she was not blushing whilst Stefan laughed quietly. The two were quietly continuing on their walk towards the cafeteria when a familiar voice sounded behind them.

"Long-time-no-see-X-wimps" Pietro whispered in their ears making them whirl about.

"Where's yer posse?" Rogue asked looking about making Pietro scoff.

"Like-I-need-their-help-taking-down-you-two" He sneered.

Stefan placed himself in front of Rogue whilst staring at the high-speed mutant in front of them. "Why don't you just back off pretty boy before you get a new face"

"Oooooh! Is-that-a-challenge?" Pietro taunted as he stepped closer to Stefan. "Or-a-threat?"

"Challenges are not my thing and threats are usually empty" Stefan stated coolly. "_That_ was a warning"

Pietro laughed out loud. "You-think-you can-take-me-on-alone?!"

"He's not alone" Kurt said as he and Kitty reappeared in a cloud of sulphur beside Rogue making Stefan raise his eyebrows at them. The two newcomers had been secretly watching Stefan and Rogue since they saw the two at Rogue's locker and had decided to reveal themselves seeing who they were facing. Stefan sighed as he brought a hand over his eyes rubbing them slightly before looking back at Pietro.

"Thanks for the concern guys" He said as he placed his hands in his pockets and took a few steps away from them. "But I can handle him myself"

Pietro smirked widely. "Now-_that_-was-a-challenge"

Stefan just shrugged his shoulders. There was around ten feet between them Pietro surmised as he looked at his opponent. To him it was a mere footstep; he could easily close the gap and take him out before his opponent could activate his ocular power and strike before he could get a hand up to block it and send it back. _Easy._

The next second his head was whipped back as if he had just been struck in the face. When his head rolled back to its usual place it looked like he _was_ struck yet Stefan had yet to move. Before he could come to grips with what was happening he was struck again yet Stefan was still standing ten feet away. Even Stefan's teammates were perplexed about what was happening until Kitty figured it out.

"Watch him closely" Kitty said as she pointed to Stefan. They gasped when they saw him disappear for a split second before reappearing again. "He must be utilising Pietro's ability to the fullest; darting in close, striking him then returning to the same spot in under what? Quarter a second?"

Stefan was now stepping it up by hitting Pietro several times a second leaving the white haired teen black and blue until one strike sent him to the floor.

"Dammit!" Pietro exclaimed from where he was. "You-haven't-activated-your-Evil-eye-yet!"

"It's been active since _before_ we began" Stefan stated as he morphed the features of his face to reveal his snake like eyes. He had used the moment he rubbed his eyes upon Kurt and Kitty's appearance to activate it and morph his features so that it looked like he had yet to activate it.

"What is going on here!?" Came a new voice from behind Stefan and the others. Looking round they came face to face with Principle Raven Darkholme. She took one look at Pietro before pointing at Stefan "Come with me Mister _Wagner_!"

Stefan cringed at how she pronounced his surname but followed none the less whilst the others just stared after him not noticing that Pietro had vanished during their distraction.

~#~#~

It was a tired and worn out Stefan that arrived home after being stuck banging erasers after school for two solid hours.

'_I thought that only happened in films'_ He thought to himself as he slowly made his way towards his room. He knew he was going to get an earful from both Logan for missing the training session and the Professor for what he did but right now he wanted to rest. Upon entering his room he noticed a note on his bed picking it up he smiled as it read:

_The date can be rescheduled for another time Snake-for-Brains._

_Don't disappoint me again if you know what's good for you._

Stefan chuckled as he collapsed onto his bed; maybe he _could_ cope being without having to look after Kurt anymore. As he lost consciousness he suddenly remembered the desk from his dreams; it was Principle Darkholme's.

~#~#~

"I assume you are angry with what happened today?" Darkholme asked from behind her desk to a shadowed corner of her office as she morphed into a blue skinned woman with red hair and white eyes.

"On the contrary" A voice spoke from the shadows. "It gave me some information of great importance"

A metal disk floated over to Darkholme's desk before a light on it blinked on to reveal a three dimensional image of Stefan. "Not only are his powers impressive, he can utilise any powers he has copied to their maximum potential"

"And how are we going to make him switch sides?" Darkholme asked. A second disk floated over this one containing an image of Kurt without his inducer.

"His brother is probably his only weakness just now" The voice explained. "This shall be key to claiming him"

Darkholme nodded her eyes rooted to the picture of Kurt.

_~#~_

_Asides my fic 'An Angel and a Demon' this is the last update/fic you'll see until the 25__th__. Rest assured I will have several festive fics ready for the occasion (I hope)._

_Oh & a side note for reviewer __**Just a thought**__: So Hard to Choose was one of my first fics & I did not have all the stats & facts about the show when I made it. Although I will admit that it's not one of my best, all fics tend to make characters a bit OOC at times. _

_As the saying goes 'There's no pleasing some folk no matter what you do'_

_That said R&R_

_& 'til the 25__th_

_Watch this space, peace out & happy festivities._


	10. Primal Fury

_Disclaimers on chapter 1 (quite a while ago seeing as I'm now in double digits)_

**Primal Fury**

_She was running through a dense forest, her feet kicking up snow as she hurried onwards down the unused hiking path the small bundle of white blankets clutched to her chest. She could hear the sounds of wolves gaining ground behind her yet she dare not look back in fear of them being right behind her waiting for her to do just that._

_As she left the forest into a clearing where a rickety bridge swayed ominously over a wide gorge that ended in a wild river far down below several wolves appeared at the other end of the bridge forcing her to stop. She was now caught on both sides with nowhere to go._

_Looking up she saw the wolves master slowly approach her from the sky, floating down with his red helmet gleaming in the morning sun whilst his purple cloak billowed out behind him making him more intimidating. As the man descended he reached out for the bundle in her arms the bundle which at that moment started crying as the infant inside became upset._

Stefan bolted upright eyes wide and panting for breath.

'_What the hell?!'_ He thought as he brought a shaking hand up to his forehead as if trying to subdue a headache. _'Was I _her _again_?_'_

After finally getting his breathing and heartbeat down to their preferred levels Stefan glance at the clock on his bedside which the luminous green numbers told him that it was a little after half five in the morning. Seeing that he was now up Stefan made his way to the kitchen and made himself a steaming mug of coffee to nourish whilst he tried to make sense of his weird dreams.

He had managed to deduce that the dreams he was having were memories from one Raven Darkholme the current principle of the high school he was attending yet asides yesterday they had never met face to face unless she could morph her features which meant she was possibly the blue skinned shape-shifting woman he fought when he first met Rogue the same woman he had tried Rogue's power on when they fought explaining why he was having those dreams but not why she was running from the man in the purple cloak.

'_Every time I solve one mystery two more seem to take its place'_ Stefan groaned as he took another sip of the hot beverage. _'It's like unlocking a treasure chest to find a smaller one inside it'_

"Thaht better not be decaf" The familiar southern drawl only Rogue could accomplish came from behind him making him inhale a large amount of hot coffee leaving him gasping whilst the girl chuckled at his antics.

"And if it's not decaf?" Stefan croaked as he nursed his sore throat.

"Then would you mahnd pouring me ah cup?" Rogue asked smiling sweetly as she raised a gloveless hand. "Unless yah prefer me knocking yah out fer thah count"

Normally Stefan would have gone against the girl's wishes however a with a burned throat and his mind on other matters entirely he decided to humour the girl and poured her some of the remaining coffee that was in the jug wishing that she had shown up five minutes later when the coffee would have been lukewarm.

"So" Rogue stated after a few minutes of silence of them just sipping coffee. "Whah are yah down here at this ungodly hour? In just a pair of slacks ah might add?"

Stefan blinked several times before looking down at himself. Because it was too early he did not think about wearing a vest or the like so was only wearing a pair of baggy pyjama trousers yet he did not feel the slightest bit self conscious.

"Why are you wearing a woolly jump suit?" Stefan countered. "And are you not at all amazed by my muscles?"

Rogue looked away pretending to be disgusted at Stefan as he flexed his arms. She had actually spent several minutes almost drooling over him from the shadows of the lobby before she managed to pull herself together and walk through the doorway.

"Ah've seen better six-packs of beer at the corner shop down thah street than thaht" She scoffed and she could have sworn she heard Stefan deflate as she burst his bubble.

_[Cold hearted 'Pale-face']_ Stefan mumbled in German. "Well as for your question about why I'm here, I usually wake up around this time"

"Seriously?" Rogue asked wide eyed.

"Well...normally around six-ish to be honest" Stefan admitted shrugging. "I'm down here earlier cuz of some stupid dream"

"Guess thaht makes two of us" Rogue said before she took a large gulp of coffee before continuing. "Fer thah last few days now ah've been havin this dream about bein carried through some kinda forest durin winter or something"

Whilst Stefan looked mildly surprised and confused on the outside on the inside his brain was going into overdrive.

'_Could she be having the same dream I'm having from a different view point?'_ He thought to himself. _'If that's true then, assuming she hasn't absorbed anyone else by accident, it's possible that Raven is...But that can't be, could it?'_

Shaking his head to rid himself of the thought Stefan grinned at the Goth before him. "What say we talk about other things? We've never actually had a one to one talk since we first met and don't know much about you"

"Yah got ah point there" Rogue admitted every time she had talked to Stefan after arriving at the mansion it was always with someone else about; usually Kurt, Kitty or both. "But there ain't much of me to know"

Stefan smirked as he went to make another jug of coffee. "You let me be the judge of that"

*~#~*

Kurt yawned widely as he stepped out of his room and into the hallway before heading down towards the kitchen where his brother would be waiting for him. He was surprised when Kitty suddenly stumbled out of the wall not fully awake yet.

"Kurt?" She asked before yawning almost as widely as the elf himself. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"Morning exercises" Kurt answered as he continued down the hall whilst Kitty walked by his side. "Brozzer und I figured zat since ve still vake up on German time ve should use it to keep ourselves in shape"

"But the time difference is about ten hours give or take" Kitty argued quickly doing the math in her head. "And why _before_ breakfast? Why not after school?"_ 'So I can watch you'_

"Because it vorks up an appetite" Kurt said cheerfully whilst patting his stomach.

"You mean it gives you an excuse to gorge out" Kitty said smiling herself. "You always put away at least twice as much as the rest of us. If it weren't for your metabolism I would've had to redub you _'Tubby Elf'_"

"Von of ze many reasons chicks dig ze fuzzy dude" said Kurt as he grinned widely sending the two of them into a fit of giggles.

The two teens made their way to the kitchen whilst making small talk until Kurt noticed who was already in the kitchen and quickly grabbed Kitty and pulled her behind the doorframe to the kitchen.

"Kurt?" Kitty whispered somewhat uncomfortably.

"Sorry Kitty" Kurt apologised. "But Brozzer und Rogue are in zeir und I didn't vant to interrupt zem"

"I gathered that" Kitty replied. "It's actually about where your hand is"

"My...hand?" Kurt asked and looked over Kitty's shoulder before blushing a deep purple as he noticed that his right hand was cupping something it should not making him let go rather quickly. "Ah! Sorry!"

"It's...no big deal" Kitty said her face just as flushed. "Besides, this makes us even after what I did to you when we first met"

Kurt chuckled in good humour. "You sure know how to make a _strong_ first impression"

"That's only if" Kitty whispered as she leaned in close. "The person I'm meeting is cute fuzzy or not"

"That reminds me, what _did _happen on your first meeting?" Stefan asked from right beside them making Kitty jump back and nearly fall over whilst Kurt teleported to the chandelier both their blushes back full force.

"Did we interrupt somethin'?" Rogue asked from over Stefan's shoulder looking like she was trying not to laugh.

"That's like none of your business!" Kitty threw back her valley speech returned.

"Vhat vere you und Rogue doing Brozzer?" Kurt asked as he teleported to his older siblings shoulders so that he was looking at Stefan upside-down.

"That's not your business" Stefan replied obviously used to talking to Kurt like this. "You feel like some outdoor exercise today?"

"Is it okay if we join in?" Kitty asked nervously whilst Rogue nodded her consent.

"Sure" Stefan shrugged as he headed back up to his room with Kurt _still_ on his shoulders. "But I'd advise wearing something suitable for running in rather than _schlafanzug_"

"So whit was you love birds whispering about?" Rogue asked Kitty as the two of them went back to their room.

"I could ask the same about you and Stefan" Kitty countered.

"Well if yah must know, 'Snake-fer-Brains' wanted to know ah lil' bout me" Rogue whispered in case Stefan or Kurt might hear her.

"When's the last time you two talked together _alone_?" Kitty teased making sure to put some emphasis on alone.

"After you trahed tah take me down fer yapping with _your_ man, or should ah say _fuzzbahll_?" Rogue countered before looking sorry about it. "Ah still ain't apologised bout haven't ah?"

"Forget about it" Kitty said quickly. "If that didn't happen then you wouldn't have met Stefan and I wouldn't have realised how much I...well-"

"Save it 'til yah can say it in one go" Rogue interrupted as they entered their room. "An ah think ah should tell yah, Stefan doesn't seem too comfortable about not havin tah spend so much tahme watchin over his brother"

"Then you'll just have to make sure he doesn't have time to ponder that" Kitty said smiling.

"Oh joy" Rogue said sarcastically but was smiling none the less before the two of them giggled quietly.

*~#~*

"Okay then!" Stefan said as he twirled the oblong ball on one finger as he spoke to the other three. The four of them were currently standing at the edge of the forest that was on the edge of the institute's boundaries. "Seeing as there's more of us than normal we'll play in teams of two and the winners is the team that has the ball longest until seven am"

Rogue and Kitty looked at one another before sprinting into the forest with Kitty going through Stefan to take the football as well as surprising him.

"Ve sure picked a vild pair of _frauliens _to fall in love vith didn't ve Brozzer" Kurt stated as he watched the girls disappear into the forest.

"Wouldn't have it any other way" Stefan smirked as he looked on.

"No argument zere" Kurt agreed before the two of them dashed off in hot pursuit neither of them noticing someone else watching them from the dense forest.

*~#~*

He grinned a feral grin as he watched his target vanish into the forest. He was only supposed to talk and convince one of those teens to switch sides through any means necessary but he had caught a whiff of _his_ scent and it was not even half a day old. If he was lucky he could get his own business taken care of at the same time.

'_Oh yeah'_ He thought to himself. _'This day just keeps getting better and better'_

*~#~*

Kitty kept on running through the trees and bushes knowing that the Wagner brothers could catch up at any time. What she did not know was that they were pulling ahead of her via the trees above her. They were skilfully jumping from branch to branch using their gymnastic abilities and were starting to pull ahead of her.

When she came to a small clearing it took Kitty all she had to not to stop when Stefan suddenly landed in front of her. She managed to collect herself enough to phase through him but when she looked round to stick her tongue out at him she tripped over an upturned root sending her to the ground and the ball into Kurt's hands as he teleported in front of it.

"Looks like I've got ze ball Kitty" He gloated to the growling girl.

"Not for long" Kitty threw back as she charged towards him only to grab a cloud of sulphur and brimstone.

Kurt then started to pass the ball around Kitty by throwing it one way then teleporting in front of it and kicking, punching or tail throwing it another. He soon became careless as he teleported onto a tree branch that snapped under his weight making him land hard on his backside. He barely had enough time to throw the ball to his brother before Kitty pounced on him and started to tickle his weak spots.

"Think you can gloat at me can you?!" Kitty interrogated grinning widely as she tried to tickle his sides whilst Kurt tried to fend off her attacks.

"Where's a camera when you need it?" Stefan muttered to himself as he watched the pair. "Come to think of it where's Ro-"

He was cut off as the girl in question suddenly tackled him from the bushes to his left pinning him to the ground.

"Miss me 'Snake-fer-Brains'?" She asked as she pinned his arms to the ground above his head by his wrists whilst straddling his waist.

"If you're going to be this intimate when we meet then I guess so" Stefan countered as he tried to get his arms free; the girl had a stronger grip than he thought.

"Flattery ain't gonna get yah anywhere" Rogue said coyly as she leaned in so that they were almost nose to nose. "Well actually it will get yah somewhere; thah Med Lab whahlst yer recoverin from mah _touch_"

"You gonna let that runt walk all over you?" Said an unfamiliar voice as someone stomped into the clearing surprising the four teens. Quickly getting up and grouping together they saw a rather muscular yet primitive man at least six feet tall with long dark blonde hair and fangs that looked more lethal than Kurt's.

"Are you going to introduce yourself?" Stefan asked switching his cheerful carefree side for his serious side.

"Sabertooth" The man growled. "Mind telling me where _he_ is in return?"

"Maybe" Stefan replied coolly. "If we knew who _he_ is"

"Oh you kids know Wolverine well I'm sure" Sabertooth said as he stepped forwards.

The four teens were instantly on alert. They did not have to look at one another to know that they had to protect their mentor even if the man tried to kill them himself.

"Does he mean that guy...Mr Logan was it?" Kitty asked to both her friends and their enemy.

"Beats me" Rogue shrugged. "That guy's comin an goin more than thah sun risin an settin"

"You'd be lucky to find him in von place for more zan five minutes" Kurt continued.

"Guess we can't help you" Stefan finished shrugging nonchalantly.

Sabertooth just grinned making the four teens step back as though intimidated by it. "Then we'll just have to do it the hard way"

With that he leapt at them forcing Stefan and Rogue to leap to opposite sides, Kitty to phase into the ground whilst Kurt jumped up grabbing the nearest branch and quickly scaling the tree. Sabertooth followed the elf up; he was told that the blue monkey was his primary targets main weakness so he would chase him first. He liked nimble pray anyway.

Nightcrawler paused for a quick breather when he reached the top of the tree he was in before looking down only to groan when he saw the blonde behemoth climbing up towards him.

"I forgot zat cats climb up trees" He muttered as Sabertooth got closer to him. "Let's see if you can climb _down _as vell!"

He then jumped off the tree smiling as he fell through the air away from Sabertooth only stare in shock as the predator jumped off the tree after him. The moment before Nightcrawler struck the ground he teleported away leaving Sabertooth to snarl angrily at his escaped pray as he landed before sinking up to his knees in the ground. When he tried to push himself up his hands went into the ground as well before it suddenly went solid as Shadowcat rose up from the ground in front of him.

At that instant Rogue came at Sabertooth from his right with a spinning thrust kick whilst Snake-eyes came from the left with a heel drop. Snarling in rage Sabertooth put all his strength into his arms sending earth and rocks everywhere as he pulled them out knocking Snake-eyes and Rogue back in the process. He then stalked towards Shadowcat who was still in front of him having collapsed to her knees in exhaust after staying below the surface for so long before making him intangible. Suddenly Nightcrawler was in front of him wrapping Shadowcat in his arms before teleporting away again.

"Here kitty kitty kitty" Snake-eyes called out to Sabertooth in a childish voice. "Wanna play widdle kitty?"

Sabertooth snarled before running at Snake-eyes with his right fist raised not caring about the mission at that point.

"Good kitty" Snake-eyes remarked as he stood his ground. _[Stupid kitty]_

When he was about to come within arm's reach Sabertooth let his fist fly towards Snake-eyes like a missile. Snake-eyes just smirked as he put his right hand in the missiles path. Impact did not come however as Sabertooth's _right_ fist stopped whilst his _left_ homed in on Snake-eyes' unguarded face from the right.

"Oh Sh-!"

BOOM!

_#~*~#_

_Can I leave you hanging or what?_

_Find out in the next chapter!_

_But for now R&R_

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out!_


	11. Bloody Roar

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

**Bloody Roar**

There was only one thing Logan loved more than the peace and quiet of the mansion at six in the morning and that was a fresh mug of steaming black coffee and the day's newspaper to read _during_ the peace and quiet of the mansion at six in the morning. When he reached the kitchen his nose informed him that Copy-cat and Stripes had been down earlier already.

He was not surprised about Copy-cat. He and his squirrel of a brother were usually the first ones to greet him as they made their way to or from the Danger Room sometimes he actually joined them if they were doing something non-acrobatic like fencing or hand to hand combat against several practice drones Chuck had received from the guy he rescued from some in between dimension or whatever he called it. It was Stripes' scent that surprised him but he figured the girl had heard Copy-cat pass by and decided to join him without being bothered by either Elf or Half-pint.

Now that Logan thought of it he quickly walked back to the doorframe before sniffing and sure enough both Elf and Half-pint's scent could be detected. It did not take half a brain to realise that those two were probably spying on their brother and roommate respectively. He shook his head as he made his way back to the island, asides from Porcupine all the other kids seemed to have found love including Shades and Red yet none of them seemed to be doing anything to strengthen their respective bond. He had thought that Copy-cat and maybe Shades and Red might try but then again all three of them had more pressing matters when they were younger so this was probably a first time for them as well.

Sitting down at the table he began to read his newspaper when a light breeze filtered through the open window brushing past him making him freeze. It was not the coldness that frozen him, he had lived in Canada for at least three decades as far as he could remember, it was what was carried on it that did the trick. Quickly getting up from his chair Logan hurried to the closest door to the outside and wrenched it open not caring that he had tore it straight off its hinges and took in a deep breath.

There was no mistaking it. Mixed with the scents of the forest, along with Copy-cat, Elf, Stripes and Half-pint's scents was another scdent more stronger and more familiar to him than any other.

"Sabertooth"

#~*~#

Sabertooth was stunned both literally and physically. The brat had managed to get his left hand between his fist and the right hand side of his face yet judging by the blood that was slowly trickling down his arm the brat was only able to send half the damage back to him which was why he was only stunned not knocked out.

"Bad kitty" Snake-eyes disciplined. "Very bad, no catnip for you"

Sabertooth snarled before trying to hit Snake-eyes with a right straight only for Snake-eyes to duck under it before doing a back flip striking Sabertooth twice in the jaw in the process and flipped several more times so that there was some distance between them.

'_This guy is tough'_ Snake-eyes thought as he studied his opponent. _'It's like I'm fighting Wolverine only this guy doesn't hold back, prefers an all out offensive to a sneak attack and lets his anger and rage fuel his attacks. It was probably his animal instincts that stopped him from falling into my trap whether he knew about my abilities or not'_

Whilst Snake-eyes and Sabertooth were having a stare down Nightcrawler and Shadowcat were several trees away while the latter was catching her breath from her earlier stunt.

"You okay?" Nightcrawler asked as he kept switching his gaze from the girl beside him to his brother every now and then.

"Next time I ask to join in on your morning exercises, just say no" Shadowcat replied as she smiled weakly up at her saviour. "Even if it's in the Danger Room"

"Guess I'll just have to show off during Herr Logan's training sessions instead zen" Nightcrawler said pretending to sigh heavily.

"There's ah six foot beast out there trahyen tah tear Snake-fer-Brains ah new un 'n ya'll're just sittin there flirtin?" Rogue asked making them jump.

"Vhilst you raise a good point" Nightcrawler began. "Zere is no way any of us can stand against him vithout losing our heads"

"Yeah I mean look at him" Shadowcat said before peering round the tree to observe their opponent whilst the other two mimicked her. "The guy's a thinner version of Blob; the only differences are that he's faster, more lethal and even shorter tempered than him I bet"

"He nearly caught Snake-fer-Brains off guard ah maht add" Rogue put in causing the other two to look at her in disbelief. "Snake-fer-Brains provoked thah oversized wahld-cat into attackin him but thaht guy managed to avoid his first attempt an only just got stopped in thah second"

"It was probably the guy's animal instincts" Shadowcat reasoned. "He does look more primitive than Mister Logan which means he's more wild and animal like"

"Und more unpredictable" Nightcrawler finished remembering the animals he sometimes saw in the forests back in Germany particularly one deer that actually ate some grass out of hand one minute then mule kicked him in the stomach before darting off the next. He jumped slightly when he saw his brother look at him yet it was only for a split second if not less as he was staring back at Sabertooth again.

Snake-eyes smirked as he gestured for Sabertooth to come and get him. "Ready for round two kitty?"

Sabertooth growled as he crouched down as if getting ready to pounce whilst Snake-eyes remained where he was with his left arm still outstretched. The two remained still making their audience feel like they were watching an old fashion western with the climatic pistols at dawn duel taking place unlike the old west however the present west preferred fists over guns at least in this case.

The snap of a twig Shadowcat stood on as she moved her foot slightly was the signal to go. Sabertooth darted towards Snake-eyes who stood his ground same as before. When Sabertooth threw his fist at him instead of trying to catch it Snake-eyes used his left hand to deflect it whilst grabbing Sabertooth's shoulder with his right hand and, using the momentum, he jumped and spun until his feet landed on Sabertooth's back. Snake-eyes then pushed off with as much force as possible whilst Nightcrawler teleported to just above Sabertooth's head and delivered a viscous kick to the back of his head the same time Snake-eyes jumped forcing Sabertooth face first into the ground Whilst the two brothers somersaulted to land gracefully with Snake-eyes landing on the ground whilst Nightcrawler landed on his brother's shoulders.

"Vhat, no applause?" Nightcrawler asked the two girls that were looking at them clearly stunned and amazed by what the brothers just did. An angry roar from behind them indicated that Sabertooth was up and was furious.

"Sounds like someone wants a refund" Snake-eyes stated as he turned round only to see Sabertooth pick up a massive boulder and throw it at them. "Move!"

The boulder narrowly missed Snake-eyes as he dove to the side to avoid it whilst Nightcrawler teleported out of its way. Shadowcat had managed to grab hold of Rogue and phased the two of them just before the boulder sailed through them crashing harmlessly into the ground. Sabertooth was not done however as he had quickly darted to where Snake-eyes had landed and aimed a fierce kick at him. Snake-eyes barely had time to put his arms in front of him in a cross guard to try and absorb the blow but was still sent flying over a group of hedges a good fifteen feet away.

"Brozzer!" Nightcrawler yelled before launching himself at Sabertooth with a teleport aided flying kick only to bounce off Sabertooth's chest like rebounding soccer ball and landing hard on the ground in front of him.

"You may be quick and nimble" Sabertooth said as he stood over Nightcrawler. "But when it comes to power you're a runt!"

He then made to stomp on the blue elf but was prevented so by Wolverine crashing into him and sending both to the ground.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size bub?" Wolverine growled as he leapt back several feet and unsheathed his claws. "Or are you not able to and have to resort to picking on kids?!"

"I was beginning to wonder when you'd arrive and try to defend these hatchlings" Sabertooth leered at his new opponent.

The two rivals eyed one another warily before charging forwards with such ferocity that the Nightcrawler and Shadowcat could only watch from the sidelines too afraid that they may lose a body part in the process of helping their instructor. Rogue meanwhile had gone over to where Snake-eyes had landed only to find him knocked out due to the combined forces of the savage blow and rough landing.

"C'mon Snake-fer-Brains, rahse 'n shahne" She muttered as she shook Snake-eyes and almost sighed in relief when she heard him groan as he came to.

"That guy could be a one man football team" Snake-eyes groaned as he got into a sitting position. He was amazed that his arms were only bruised and not broken in several places after blocking a kick like that. "How far did I fly?"

"Ah good fifteen feet" Rogue answered as she helped her friend get to his feet. "We got back up in thah form of Mr Sunshahne"

"And here I was hoping to finish this _before_ he arrived" Snake-eyes said as he started walking back to where the fight was occurring.

"Now just ah minute!" Rogue said as she placed herself in front of him. "Yah sayin yah wanna go another round with thaht wahld-cat?!"

"Darn tootin!" Snake-eyes said in, what he hoped was, a good intimidation of Rogue's southern drawl as he gently pushed the girl out of his way and continued on walking. "Except this time the gloves are off"

Rogue was silenced not by his words, including his poor attempt at sounding like a southerner, but rather the determined look in his eyes. She actually shivered when she realised that Snake-eyes was going to literally take on Sabertooth at his level. She almost felt sorry for the blonde behemoth. _Almost_. She then looked down at her own gloved hands before deciding to follow Snake-eyes lead and removed her own gloves.

*~#~*

Wolverine grunted as he got slammed into the tree Sabertooth threw him at.

"You've gone soft in your old age Wolverine!" Sabertooth snarled as he launched himself at him.

Before he went half the distance however Nightcrawler Teleported onto Sabertooth's back and then teleported them both so that Sabertooth went crashing into another tree a good ten feet up. When Sabertooth fell onto the with a loud thump Shadowcat quickly ran up to the dazed behemoth and phased him so that only his head was showing above ground.

"Are we good or what!?" Shadowcat cheered as she and Nightcrawler high fived whilst Wolverine walked over to them fully healed.

"You kids shouldn't get involved in my fights" He said sounding angry but was secretly praising them for good teamwork. '_I gotta remember to see how they fair on an espionage test once this is over'_

"If you wanted to go solo you _would not_ have become our instructor" Shadowcat said sounding triumphant.

"Plus I needed to get out of your debt before you made me clean ze X-jet vith a tooz-brush" Nightcrawler added.

"A _what_-brush?" Shadowcat asked before covering her mouth to prevent herself from giggling when she realized what her best friend meant.

Any further talk was cut short as Sabertooth gave an almighty roar as he forced his arms out of the ground and began to pull himself out.

"Does he _ever_ give up?" Nightcrawler asked as the three of them went into fighting stances.

"That's like asking Chuck to _not_ take someone in" Wolverine answered knowing full well that the Professor would offer sanctuary to his nemesis without a second thought if the time comes.

"I'll take care of this" Said a familiar behind them. "You guys stay back"

Looking round the three X-men saw Snake-eyes walk towards them and then past them. Wolverine was unsure if the other two noticed but he definitely heard the hardness in the kid's voice. It just screamed _'I'm going all out and I don't want you near in case I accidently hurt you in the process'_.

"He's all yours" He said as he sheathed his claws. _'This should be interesting'_

"Vhat?! Are you crazy Brozzer?!" Nightcrawler yelled as he made to stop him only to be stopped by Shadowcat's hand on his shoulder.

"He must be going to copy Sabertooth's powers with his Evil-eye then use it against him except he doesn't know if he can control the primitive side effects so he wants us to keep out of it" She explained grateful when she saw him accepting her words and backing down taking hold of her hand in the process. Obviously he did not like it regardless of what she said.

Beside them Wolverine was fighting to suppress the smirk that was trying to appear on his face. _'Asides his brother Half-pint's probably the only one to keep Elf in check'_

"You wanna go _another_ round runt?" Sabertooth asked disbelievingly.

"I haven't heard the bell _yet_" Snake-eyes answered coolly. "This time however I'm kicking it up a notch"

Snake-eyes then activated his Evil-eye and focused on copying Sabertooth's powers and activating them. The moment he did he bent over double as he felt something inside him awaken. He moaned painfully as his body morphed feeling bones snap and pop as they realigned themselves, muscles harden and expand, clothes tearing and bursting as they could no longer hide his growing form. As his transformation ended Snake-eyes brought himself to his full height and roared into the open sky startling all wildlife in a good mile radius at least before locking eyes once more with his opponent.

Sabertooth and the present X-men were stunned as they looked at the person that had several seconds ago been one Stefan 'Snake-Eyes' Wagner. He was now a good foot taller, the only clothing that was still on his more muscular form were the remains of his black track pants and red wife-beater which were now looking like a pair of tight fit shorts and an elastic belt, his nails had grown into lethal one inch claws whilst his teeth looked more similar to Sabertooth's, his jet black hair had went from shoulder length to waist length whilst his body had a small layer of charcoal black fur all over and even his eyes, despite them still looking like his namesake, had a more primitive look to them.

"Sorry for the delay" Snake-eyes said in a deeper voice as he did a few quick stretching exercises to see if he was okay. "Shall we continue?"

"Whoa" Shadowcat said in a small voice as she clung to Nightcrawler's arm.

_[God in heaven]_ Nightcrawler mumbled oblivious to the nails digging into his arm as he stared in amazement at his brother. He found he could not help himself and raised his other hand to his mouth in order to enhance his voice and shout. "ROUND ZHREE! FIGHT!"

As if hearing the starting bell the two heavy hitters charged at one another and began trading blows each one making the very ground shake. After swapping punches for several minutes the two clasped the others hands and tried to force the other to their knees.

"I'll have to admit I'm impressed kid" Sabertooth said as he tried to push forward. "Your powers are going to be wasted if you stick with these shrimps"

"What makes you think I want to defect to your side?" Snake-eyes growled as he pushed back.

"Because if you let my boss study your powers he might be able to reverse the results of his experiments on your brother"

Snake-eyes faltered as he let Sabertooth's words brush over him. Sabertooth took the opening to throw him into the nearest tree forcing it to snap in two and collapse on top of him. As Sabertooth walked over to where his opponent lay he was suddenly struck by the fallen tree Snake-eyes threw at him. Before he could recover Snake-eyes then struck him with a viscous uppercut that sent him nearly thirty feet into the air before landing with a heavy crunch onto the boulder he threw earlier breaking it to pieces under his force of impact.

Snake-eyes breathed heavily as he tried to keep his temper under control which was more challenging due to the more primitive form he was in. Meanwhile Sabertooth managed to somehow stumble to his feet before roaring with rage.

"How in the word can he still _move_ let alone _stand_?" Shadowcat asked still clinging onto Nightcrawler's arm. The whole fight was like something out of a horror movie to her and she _hated_ horror movies.

"Because he has a healing factor, just like me" Wolverine answered.

Snake-eyes cursed. He only had about five maybe six minutes left before he morphed back yet it looked like the battle was far from over. Suddenly Sabertooth yelled in pain before collapsing revealing Rogue who was standing behind him but was now screaming herself as dark brown and white fur sprouted all over her body whilst said body started to morph into something similar to Snake-eyes, only her transformation was not as grand as his.

"Been to ze gym lately Rogue?" Kurt asked as he Kitty and Logan walked over to where Sabertooth lay whilst Stefan began to morph back into his usual self before collapsing against a nearby tree in exhaustion.

"Shut up!" Rogue growled before looking down at herself. "Ah just waxed mah legs 'n all!"

"Could've fooled me" Stefan said chuckling weakly as he managed to stand up whilst leaning against the tree.

Rogue snarled at him. "Watch it Snake-fer-Brains!"

Whilst they were talking none of them noticed a lone raven perched on a branch high above them. Upon seeing all it needed it took off out of the perimeter of the mansion before landing in a secluded alley before morphing into Raven Darkholme.

"How did it go?" Said a familiar voice from the alleys shadows.

"He lost" Raven replied bluntly. "He was more interested in taking care of his own business than trying to convince _him_ to defect"

"I'm not surprised" Said the shadowy voice. "I may have to arrange a meeting with the boy _personally_"

"You may not want to" Raven advised. "Sabertooth told him about what you did to his brother and that sent him over the edge"

Raven gasped as dustbins and anything metal not connected to the ground swirled dangerously around her.

"Have you forgotten who you are talking to _Mystique_?!" The voice snarled. "_No one_ is superior to me! Not even Charles!"

Raven Darkholme, true name Mystique, nodded shakily. "Yes, of course. Forgive me _Magneto_"

*~#~*

Stefan groaned as he lay on the sofa in the Rec Room. Despite it almost being midday he was stuck at home until his muscles stopped aching from overuse. And he could not use his Evil-eye to help recover due to some cruel twist of fate.

"How're yah feelin Snake-fer-Brains?" Rogue asked as she stepped into the room. It was only herself and Stefan in the mansion right now as the rest of the teens were at school whilst the Professor Ororo and Logan were off depositing Sabertooth somewhere far from the mansion in the X-jet before wiping his mind of what he had been doing and where.

"Like a wet noodle" Stefan replied as he lifted his head so that he could see Rogue walking towards the sofa he was lying on finally back to normal. "Been to the grooming salon recently?"

Rogue ignored the joke. Instead she moved Stefan's head, sat down then placed his head on her lap and started to run her fingers through his hair. Stefan felt himself fall into a relaxed state and almost fell asleep before recent events pushed themselves to the front of his mind.

'_Fer thah last few days now ah've been dreaming about bein carried through some kinda forest durin winter or something'_

'_Because if you let my boss study your powers he might be able to reverse the results of his experiments on your brother'_

Stefan immediately bolted upright ignoring his protesting muscles. Several pieces of the puzzle were falling into place and he knew that the only way to finish it was with the help of the girl next to him.

"What's wrong?" Rogue asked as she moved closer to him.

Stefan took a deep breath before turning to her. "Do you trust me Rogue?"

_#~*~#_

_Ooh I bet you all hate me for that._

_P.S does anyone know the relation between the titles of this chapter & the previous?_

_R&R_

_&'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out_


	12. Revelations & Reunions

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

_**Caution:** Do not read until you have a pack of tissues at the ready for those who easily get emotional because you will need them_

**Revelations & Reunions**

Rogue raised an eyebrow at the teen beside her, unsure about what he was getting at. "Ah'd say yes if ah knew whit ah was gettin' intah"

Stefan realised that she brought up a good point.

"Remember this morning you told me about those dreams you're having about being carried through a forest?" He asked before ploughing on after getting the affirmative from Rogue. "For a while now I've been having the same dream except it's been from the carrier's point of view"

"Yah mean tah tell me thaht we's been in contact with folks related tah each other somehow?" Rogue asked a moment later after she started to connect the dots.

"It looks that way" Stefan agreed grimly. "The scary part is that I think I know _who_ they are"

Rogue paused as she looked back over her time with the gang. Asides the jock she put into a coma when her powers first revealed themselves and Kurt when she tried to escape from them before realising they were on the same side, she had been careful not to come into direct skin contact with anyone whether it was in the institute or at school; until this morning that was. As for Stefan, the only time she had ever seen him use her powers against someone was when they first met against the blue skinned shape-shifter.

"Yah've got tah be kiddin' me!" Rogue swore as she looked at Stefan for confirmation. "Fuzzbahll n' thah shape-shifter?"

"You have to admit, there is some resemblance" Stefan said looking thoughtful.

"But ain't Fuzzbahll _yer _brothah?" Rogue asked clearly confused as to what was going on.

Stefan shook his head sadly. "Adoptive. My parents found him floating down a stream next to our caravan when I was three, been with us ever since"

Rogue could not believe what she was hearing. Despite the obvious in appearances she, along with the rest of the gang at the mansion, thought that Stefan and Kurt were truly brothers the way they acted and cared for one another. The proverbial saying 'just when you think you know someone' was clearly evident here.

"So, whah're yah askin' if ah trust yah?" Rogue asked bringing them back to the topic at hand.

"Evil-eye" Stefan elaborated. "Using the Professor's powers, and your consent, I'll combine the memories of our dreams together to give us a better picture about what happened"

"An hopefully gain an idea as tah whah Fuzzbahll got adopted by yer folks" Rogue finished as she caught on to Stefan's plan. "Alraht, let's do this"

Stefan watched Rogue carefully for a moment to see if she was serious. When it became apparent that it was he moved so that he was sitting facing her. Activating his Evil-eye he carefully placed his hands on opposite sides of Rogue's head whilst placing his forehead against hers startling slightly. Rogue had braced herself for the feeling she got whenever she absorbed someone but felt nothing, just the gentle pressure of Stefan's touch.

"How..?" Rogue tried to ask without succumbing to the feel of someone else without the risk of absorbing them.

"Resonance, I'm using my copy of your powers to cancel each other out. Nifty trick I learned just before I met you" Stefan explained. "The only drawback is that the more powers I use at once the less time I have, so focus please"

Rogue understood the urgent tone in his voice and began to think of the dreams she had been having recently. The next second she suddenly realised that she was reliving them.

_The woman ran through the dense forest as fast as she could, her feet kicking up snow as she hurried onwards down the unused hikers' path the small bundle of white blankets containing her child clutched to her chest. She could hear the sounds of wolves gaining ground behind her yet she dare not look back in fear of them being right behind her waiting for her to do just that._

_As she left the forest into a clearing where a rickety bridge swayed ominously over a wide gorge that ended in a wild river far down below several wolves appeared at the other end of the bridge forcing her to stop. She was now caught on both sides with nowhere to go._

_Looking up she saw the wolves master slowly approach her from the sky, floating down with his red helmet gleaming in the morning sun whilst his purple cloak billowed out behind him making him more intimidating. As the man descended he reached out for the child in her arms who had started crying as he became upset s if sensing the danger nearby._

"_Give him to me Mystique!" The man ordered."I need him in order to complete my work"_

_Mystique took a step backwards trying to prolong the inevitable._

"_Haven't you done enough to him already?!" She cried at him. "You have already thrown away his chance for a normal childhood with kids his age!"_

"_Do you really think they would allow your son to play with their young even if he was still normal?" The man countered. "My work will allow mutants like him to walk about without fear of being attacked by those vermin!"_

"_That does not mean you can use my son in your experiments against my will" Mystique argued as she took another step back unaware how close to the edge she was._

"_I grow tired of this conversation" The man growled. "Give me the boy or you shall watch as he is fed to the wolves before I allow them to feast on you as well!"_

_Mystique took another step back out of fear only to slip as her foot caught a rock causing her to fall backwards onto the ground. The child flew from her grasp into the depths of the gorge. Twisting round and reaching out vainly Mystique could only watch as her son plummeted downwards. A small three fingered hand covered in tufts of blue fur reached out from the blanket as if he too knew what was happening._

_Mystique lay where she was helplessly whilst Magneto and his pack left the scene seeing that there was nothing more of use here. Seeing her chance, Mystique dropped the act and threw herself over the edge without abandon. As she plummeted down towards the icy depths bellow her she morphed into a raven, one of her favourite forms, and glided down following the course of the river hoping beyond hope that there was still a chance that her son could be alive._

_Upon exiting the canyon Mystique quickly swooped behind a large boulder and morphed back into her human form before slowly peering out from behind it. A little further downstream a lone caravan was parked. Its occupants, two parents with a set of near identical twins a boy and a girl judging by the clothing, were currently at the water's edge. The patriarch of the family was currently standing knee deep in water picking up a familiar bundle of blankets._

_Mystique nearly cried out in joy that her son was still alive when she heard him cry as he was passed to the matriarch who began to soothe him in German. As she looked on the boy who was barely a couple of years older than her own waddle up to his mother and peered into the bundle as his mother bent down to allow him to see. Almost instantly a blue furred arm reach out and grab his nose but instead of backing away in fear the boy took the hand in his own smiling down at his new sibling._

It took a moment for Rogue to realise that she was back in the present. Whether the time limit was up or Stefan could no longer bear to watch she did not know nor did she blame him if the latter was true. She did know that she had been crying for several minutes now and Stefan was clearly upset as he was now pacing the room talking in rapid German. The tone of his voice however was far from upset.

_[He really was normal before that...that...experiment he was used in!]_ He muttered furiously not caring about the tears that were flowing down his cheeks. _[He could have had a normal life until his teleportation ability kicked in! When I meet that Chrome-dome asshole I'm going to make him suffer big time! Adoptive or not _nobody_ screws with my brother and gets away with it!]_

"Snap out of it _Stefan_ yer scarin' me!" Rogue called out to him surprising Stefan enough to stop in his tracks and look at the Goth who really did look terrible at the moment before staring down at his feet ashamed of himself.

"Sorry" He mumbled before looking at her again. "It's just that, up until now I've spent most of my childhood convincing Kurt that he's _not_ a monster and then I find out someone actually turned him into one for the sake of science. Really infuriating"

Rogue could imagine. She had seen Stefan angry at people for picking on his brother before but that was nothing compared to the anger directed at the man she had seen in the memories. She definitely did not want to be in that mans shoes when Stefan's and his paths cross.

"Whah don' yah go n' hit thah hay Snake-fer-Brains?" She suggested after a moment. "Yah must be beat after all thaht's happened. Ah'll wake yah when thah Professor gets back"

"Yeah" Stefan agreed sounding distracted. "I could do with a little shut eye"

As Stefan slowly walked away Rogue wondered why he did not use his Evil-eye to heal the pain he was still in from his transformation earlier. Shrugging it off she went to her own room to listen to some of her own music rather than her roommate's constant hip-hop albums the girl usually had playing when she was doing her homework. Had the volume not been near deafening she might have heard the engine of a motor bike speed off away from the mansion.

#~*~#

Kurt was grateful that his brain was not fried as he left his history class. He had barely understood the first fifteen minutes of the lesson before he completely lost the plot. Fortunately he was not the only one so the teacher had to back pedal and start from the beginning and explain it more thoroughly at a slower pace. Even then he could rarely understand it. He sighed heavily as he realised he would have to ask his brother for help when he got back to the mansion.

"Any reason why you're looking blue Fuzzy?" Kitty asked from behind him making him jump.

"My history lesson nearly turned my brain into deep fried cuisine und I still had no clue vhat was going on" Kurt explained as they walked towards their lockers which were in the same hallway. "Vhich means I'll have to ask Brozzer if he can help me make head, tail und all zat's in between of it"

Kitty allowed herself to giggle a bit at Kurt's attempt at lightening the situation before speaking. "You know, just because Stefan's your brother means you have to go to him for everything"

"I know but..." Kurt began but fell silent.

"But what?" Kitty asked getting curious about why her best friend was being so quiet for once.

Kurt fidgeted nervously whilst looking round before answering. "I zink Brozzer und I are drifting apart und ze only cay to stay close to him is zhrough zis"

Kitty's mouth formed a perfect O as she understood her best friend's concern. It looked as if it was not just Stefan who thought that they were drifting apart.

"You silly elf" She whispered as she wrapped him in a comforting hug. "No matter how far apart you two are, he'll always be there for you"

"I know" Kurt whispered as he leaned his head against her shoulder. "But it's still a scary zhought"

"Might I ask why you two are making out in the middle of the hallway instead of being in your respective classes?" The stern voice of Principle Darkholme came from beside them.

"P-principle Darkholme" Kurt stuttered as he and Kitty sprang apart.

"It's like, not what it like looks like" Kitty said blushing slightly as she realised that she secretly wanted it to.

Darkholme however, was having none of it. "You both live at the same boarding school so save it until then and get to your classes _now_"

The two teens nodded and went their separate ways to their respective classes leaving the Principle who was looking in the direction Kurt had gone. Sighing deeply over what she was missing Darkholme proceeded back to her office. After being told from her secretary that she had received no important calls since she left she made her way inside and locked the door before morphing back into her true self. Only then did she shed a tear.

She had left her son in the hands of those gypsies in the hopes that they would not get involved with the ever growing struggle between homo-sapiens and homo-superior like any loving mother would. She had not expected to see him fourteen years later looking as if he was not at all disturbed by his own appearance and co-existing with humans to boot, although she was not surprised to find out that he had been taken under the wing of her enemy in the fight against humans. All she wanted now was to talk to him and apologise for abandoning him so long ago. The only problem was that whenever she saw him it was with that teenybopper brunette or his adoptive brother.

Grudgingly accepting that this was fate's way of a cruel joke Mystique collapsed into her chair and started to work on the mundane tasks that came with her job. It was then that she noticed a letter addressed to her atop of the usual forms in her in-tray. Looking at it suspiciously she cautiously picked it up and opened it with flick of her letter opener and tipped it toward her desk allowing a folded piece of paper to fall out. Curiously she unfolded the letter only to nearly gasp at its contents.

_I know who you are; I know who your son is  
I know that you two are overdue for a little mother son talk;  
be at the construction site after school by and as yourself_

Mystique pressed the intercom button for the radio situated in her secretary's desk just outside. "Geraldine has anyone been in my office since I was last in?"

"N-n-n-no Ms Darkholme" Was the reply from the stuttering secretary. "Although Mr D-d-d, Duh-d-duh-the big fat student wanted to lodge a complaint about the meals again"

Mystique sighed as she listened to the girl try to say Mr Dukes name. She once had to wait five minutes before the girl managed to say Superintendent McAlister was on the phone unfortunately by the time she did the Superintendent had hung up over the wait.

"Clear my schedule from three o'clock until tomorrow" She said before cutting transmission.

Outside Geraldine quickly looked around to see if the coast was clear before morphing into Stefan just seconds before the real Geraldine walked round the corner and towards the desk.

"Thanks for keeping watch whilst I went to the toilet Mr Vah-vuh-vah-vah-"

"No need to thank me Geraldine" Stefan said as he quickly made his way towards the exit before quietly muttering. "It would have been midnight before you managed to finish"

Little did he realise that during his whole escapade he was being watched by what looked like a bunch of grapes but was actually Pietro.

#~*~#

Kurt was surprised when he saw his brother waiting for him after school on his motorbike. He had expected his brother to still be recovering from this morning

"I vas expecting to come home und see you being vaited on hand und foot" He joked as he hoped on the bike behind him.

"You're the one I'm expecting to try and get that sort of treatment" Stefan countered as he revved up before speeding out of the parking lot and off in the opposite way of the institute.

"Shouldn't ve be going back to ze institute?" Kurt asked when he realised which way they were going.

"We're taking a quick side trip" Stefan explained. "Somebody wants to meet you, and she's waited fourteen years give or take a few months"

"She? Fourteen years?" Kurt asked before connecting the dots. "You mean...?"

By this time they had reached construction site that was currently empty until tomorrow.

"The far side near the I-beams, but you better brace yourself for what you discover" Stefan said as he killed the engine. "And switch off your inducer after going in"

Kurt nodded silently as he gave his brother a quick hug before walking off into the site. Stefan watched his brother disappear behind a large digger before something in his bikes mirror caught his eye. He quickly dove off his bike a split second before a large pipe collided with it sending it skidding down the road as he rolled to his feet. He barely got a moment to breath before he was knocked off balance by a sudden tremor then sent flying forwards by someone mule kicking him in the back landing face first on the ground in front of a cement mixer.

"Well-if-it-isn't-the-so-called-one-man-army" He heard Pietro jeer as he managed to stand up using the mixer for support.

"You guys looking for another beating?" Stefan asked the four members of the brotherhood who were standing before him.

"This time it's you whose gonna get beaten" Lance said grinning evilly at the worn out teen.

"C'mon guys walk away now and you'll be bruise free whilst I don't have to waist my Evil-eye on ya's" Stefan bluffed pretending that he was in no mood to fight.

"What-evil-eye?" Pietro snorted. "You-used-one-go-against-Sabertooth-this-morning-another-this-afternoon-to-fool-Mystique-and-if-my-informant-is-correct-you-used-your-last-go-to-work-out-the-connection-between-her-and-your-brother. And-you-can-only-use-it-three-times-a-day-as-well-if-I'm-right-which-I-am"

"Sounds like someone's been a busy boy" Stefan whistled._ 'And it looks like my day _can't_ get any worse'_ He immediately regretted saying that as the effects of the painkillers he had taken before leaving started to wear off.

#~*~#

After turning off his inducer Kurt cautiously made his way to the far side of the construction site. To say he was nervous would have been an understatement. What do you say to the person who gave life to you after not seeing them for fourteen years? Definitely not hello that was for sure. As he walked towards the pile of yet to be used I-beams he noticed a lone figure in a hooded cloak was standing there waiting for him.

Heart in mouth, Kurt walked towards the stranger. The stranger meanwhile raised her hands to the hood of her cloak to push away the fabric allowing him to take his first look at a face he had not seen in a very long time.

"It has been a long time son"

Kurt froze up when he realised who it was. "It can't be..."

_*~#~*_

_Oooooooh, what a place to stop eh? & how many needed a tissue after the flashback?_

_R&R_

_& 'til next time _

_Watch this space & peace out_


	13. Family Ties

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

**Family Ties**

'_Zero Evil-eye uses, body not fully recovered from the rumble this morning, painkillers wearing off, four opponents with three of them having a grudge against me. All in all; I'm in trouble'_ Stefan surmised as he gazed warily at his opponents; The Brotherhood of Mutants. _'Guess this is what I get for going out of my way for my brother without thinking'_

"Ready or not, yo!" Toad yelled whilst hopping about on the spot before jumping into the air like an uncoiling spring towards Snake-eyes. "Here we come!"

Snake-eyes waited until the air born air head was starting to descend towards him before moving out of the way, allowing Toad to land himself right in the cement mixer. He then switched the mixer on in order to keep Toad out of his hair; for the moment at least.

'_Scratch one!'_ Stefan thought to himself as he ignored his protesting limbs whilst leading the remaining trio away from his brother's meeting.

He barely made five steps before something struck his face with such force that he spun around completely before collapsing to the ground. As he tried to get up again he was struck again, this time in the back making him stumble forward to keep his balance before being struck in the solar plexus making him double over in pain.

"Don't-fall-to-pieces-on-us-just-yet-X-wimp!" Quicksilver jeered as he stood several paces from him. "I'm-gonna-make-you-regret-making-my-face-look-like-a-bunch-of-grapes. Do-you-know-how-many-people-asked-if-I-had-any-spare-fruit-the-other-day?!"

"Look on the bright side Pretty-boy" Said Snake-eyes as he regained his breath. "You've proven that you can still be on posters; holding up a bottle of 'Quicksilver's quick and homemade Wine' whilst wearing a grape suit"

Quicksilver saw red and swung his fist in a viscous haymaker straight at Snake-eyes' head only to yelp in pain as Snake-eyes twisted his head to avoid the blow then grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back so that he was now on his knees whilst Snake-eyes was standing above him. Before Quicksilver could attempt to remove himself from Snake-eyes' clutches, Snake-eyes then threw him with as much strength he could muster into several barrels of oil with the end results producing a temporally stunned but very slippery Quicksilver.

"But how?" Avalanche said as he stared at his opponent who had just taken out two of his comrades without using his powers. "Without your Evil-eye you should be useless"

"Dummkopf, you ever heard of the term _planning ahead_?" Snake-eyes muttered as he picked himself up after falling over when he let go of Quicksilver. "I knew that there would have been days like this not long after my powers first revealed themselves so I trained myself in ways of fighting using whatever resources I could find, literally and mentally. Guess you could say I'm a mutant Jackie Chan"

Snake-eyes suddenly glanced around before looking at the self-proclaimed leader of the Brotherhood. "Where's your heavy hitter?"

"You know, that's not a bad nickname compared to what other jerks call me" Blob stated from behind Snake-eyes causing his eyes to widen as he realised what was about to happen to him. The next second he was sent flying right out of the construction site, across the road and onto the second floor of the unfinished building with a tremendous crash.

"Two bad flights in one day" Snake-eyes groaned as he pulled himself out of the pile of barrels he landed in and looked about for a way out of the under construction building before his playmates could find him for another round. "I need to get myself a new travel agent"

As he stumbled free of his landing site, the whole structure began to shake probably due to Avalanche no doubt.

"Ach nien" He whined as he heard the giant framework begin to collapse.

#~*~#

Whilst Snake-eyes and the Brotherhood were battling it out, Kurt was currently coming to grips in an all together different kind of battle. He was currently staring at a blue skinned woman with red hair and blue eyes; the exact description of the woman his brother and Rogue met and fought whilst he was out for the count so to say. Which meant that she should be the enemy.

"You-you're...mien mozher?" He finally managed to get out as he felt tears start to well up in the corners of his eyes.

Mystique was no better as she watched her son cautiously walk up to her. She nodded slowly, unable to trust her voice for the moment.

"But, _vhy_?" Kurt asked when he stopped short of arms reach. "Ve boze look...different. So vhy did you get rid of me?"

"I didn't want to get rid of you my son" Mystique blurted out as she reached forward and wrapped Kurt in her arms. "You were barely a year old when it happened so you would not have known"

"Known vhat?" Kurt asked his tears now flowing freely as he wrapped his own arms around his mother.

Mystique held Kurt at arm's length before placing a hand against his cheek. "You were not supposed to look like this, you could have been normal. Someone used you for experimentation resulting in what you look like now"

"Und vhen you realised it, you ran avay vith me" Kurt speculated as he placed a hand over his mother's. "But somezing happened, ja?"

"My foot slipped, and in my haste to keep my balance I accidently threw you into the river" Mystique explained looking ashamed of herself. "I left you with your new family in hopes that you could live a life away from this conflict. I just hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me"

Kurt quickly wrapped his mother in a tight hug. "I'll admit zat I hate you for not finding me sooner, but I still forgive you for vhat you have done"

"Your kindness and forgiveness is going to be your undoing one of these days son" Mystique scolded him although the smile on her face betrayed her angry look.

The two of them broke parted when an earthquake suddenly struck causing the building that was under construction across the road to collapse.

"Avalanche?!" Kurt gasped as he looked at the destruction the mutant had caused before another thought struck him. "Brozzer!"

"You must go to him" Mystique urged. "He cannot not be fully healed yet from his battle with Sabertooth this morning"

Kurt did not need to be told twice as he made to leave but stopped suddenly and turned to face Mystique. "Don't zhink zat I vill go easy on you vhen ve next meet!"

"I'll make sure you regret it if you do" Mystique countered as she stared proudly at her son. "Now move your tail before I move it for you!"

As she watched her son disappear in a cloud of smoke, Mystique could not help but silently thank his adoptive brother for giving her the chance to make peace with both herself and her son. She was also hoping that he would make a huge dent in her boss' pride when the two finally met as well as hoping she had a prime seat for the display. About facing, she took several steps away from the battle before morphing into a raven and flying away before the rest of Xavier's squad could arrive.

#~*~#

"Whoo-hoo! Alright yo!" Toad cheered as he watched the dust settle from the falling building.

"Let that teach you a lesson for messing with the Brotherhood!" Avalanche yelled into the pile of rubble that had once been a building under construction and now a tombstone for his enemy.

"So what we gonna do now, yo?" Toad asked before being drop kicked into Blob by Nightcrawler as he teleported in front of him. Unfortunately Toad bounced off of Blob and collided heads with Nightcrawler sending both of them to the ground stunned.

"Here's what we're gonna do Toad" Avalanche said as he pulled a stunned Nightcrawler up by the neck until they were eye level with one another. "We're gonna send the demon to meet his brother, back in hell where he belongs!"

Nightcrawler tried to pry himself loose from Avalanches grip but was still too stunned to struggle hard enough.

"This is great" Avalanche said out loud as he pulled his free hand back as far as it could go before punching Nightcrawler in the face sending him flying to the ground. "First I get to bury the jerk who gave me my first beat down, now I get to put the demon who stole my girl underground _permanently_"

"I was never yours to begin with Lance!"

Avalanche barely had time to look in the direction of where the voice had emanated from before Shadowcat socked him straight in the jaw forcing him to step back due to the force of it.

"Leave. My. Fuzzy Elf. ALONE!" She yelled striking him each time she said a word before finishing with a spinning roundhouse kick that sent him spinning to the ground.

Meanwhile, Blob was sent rolling away by Jean's telekinesis and an optic blast from Cyclops took care of Toad whilst Spyke sent a well timed projectile into Quicksilver's path tripping him up and straight into Rogue's roundhouse kick sending him sliding along the ground for nearly ten feet due to the oil he was soaked in when thrown by Snake-eyes. Seeing that defeat was inevitable, the Brotherhood wisely decided to make a hasty retreat leaving the X-men alone to tend to their wounded.

"You okay Fuzzy?" Kitty asked as she crouched down beside Kurt who had managed to get himself into a sitting position.

"Believe me vhen I say I've had vorse" Kurt answered before locking eyes with his nurse. "Vhere did you learn to hit like zat? It vas incredible"

Kitty looked away as she started blushing, she was hoping that he did not see but at the same please that he was amazed by it. "I asked Mr Logan to give me some lessons in martial arts. As much as I'd want to, I can't have you saving me all the time"

"So how does it feel, knowing who your real mom is?" Evan cut in before the scene got anymore mushy.

"How did you know?" Kurt asked whilst Kitty glared at Evan for interrupting them.

"Ah told them 'bout whit Snake-fer-Brains discovered during a memory search of what he gained off the Shape-shifter using mah powers way back when we first met" Rogue explained as she looked around for said mutant. "Where in tarnation is he anyway"

"Ze Brozzerhood vas looking zere vhen I appeared" Kurt replied softly as he pointed to the rubble.

"Jean?" Scott asked noticing that she was focusing her powers on something. "Have you-?"

His question was cut short when a barrel suddenly floated out of the wreckage and towards them, courtesy of Jean's telekinesis. When the barrel reached them Jean made the barrel tip over allowing an oily and compacted but otherwise fine Stefan to fall onto the ground head first with a painful thud before the momentum of the rest of his body landing allowed him to stop in a sitting position.

"A little more gently next time!" Stefan complained as he rubbed his sore head.

"Ah barrel?" Rogue asked as she helped Stefan to his feet. "Couldn't yah've found something, ah don' know, _bigger_?"

"Well there was a porta-potty but I'd rather be compacted than in something with god knows what's in them" Stefan countered as he managed to get shakily to his feet with Rogue's help.

"So this is what, your second defeat?" Evan asked as he helped Rogue keep Stefan on his feet.

"_First_!" Stefan retorted glaring at the city boy. "That tumble in Mississippi didn't count"

"Either way, you're in deep trouble when we get back Stefan" Scott chuckled as they all made their way back to where the X-Van was parked.

"Great" Stefan said sarcastically. "A lecture from both the Professor _and_ Logan, coupled with a giant bruise for a body and a wrecked bike. Any more bad news?"

"You're paying for the repairs to your bike" Scott replied.

"I had to ask"

#~*~#

"Knock-Knock" Kitty called as she stuck her head through the door to Kurt's room to see if the fuzzy elf was still up. "Can I come in?"

"Bring in ze rest of your body, vhy don't you" Kurt joked from his place on the rail of his balcony.

Kitty giggled as she phased the rest of her body through the door and made her way to the balcony to join Kurt as he jumped down off the rail.

"I know it's a stupid question but, how are you feeling?" She asked as she stood beside him and gazed up at the clear night sky.

"Truzhfuly, I have no idea" Kurt admitted. "I mean, I'm happy zat I finally know who mien real mozher is but now I'm vorried about whezher Stefan should be called mien brozzer or not. Vas?"

He added that last bit when he noticed that Kitty was staring at him wide eyed as if surprised by something he did.

"You just called Stefan...well..._Stefan_!" Kitty said as if it was it was obvious.

"Vell zat's his name" Kurt pointed out not getting what the girl was on about. The next thing he knew Kitty has slapped him hard on his arm. "Vhat vas zat for?!"

"You stupid elf!" Kitty said as she glared at him. "He always thinks of you as his little brother!"

"But I'm not a Wagner" Kurt pointed out.

"And after looking after you for god knows how long knowing you're not, do you think he cares about that?!" Kitty countered as tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes.

"Nien but...but..." Kurt sighed in defeat as he gave up trying to prove his point and looked back up to the sky.

Kitty took the moment to calm herself down and wipe her eyes before closing the gap between herself and the elf causing him to look at her.

"Today's been rather hectic for you" Kitty whispered as she leaned against Kurt whilst wrapping her arms loosely around his neck. "So tomorrow you shall be coming with me to the mall for a much needed distraction"

"V-vas?" Kurt stammered. Unless he was mistaken, Kitty had just asked him on a-

"With the rest of the team obviously" Kitty finished before noticing Kurt's sudden deflated look. "What?"

"Uh nozzing!" Kurt lied quickly. "It's just zat I've heard zat in America, going to ze mall for girls is like an Olympic event"

Kitty frowned at Kurt, obviously not believing him as she looked back over what she said to him. Her face went beet red when she realised the space between when she told him they were going to the mall and saying that the rest of the team were joining them made Kurt interpret-

"You thought I was asking you out on a _date_?!" Kitty exclaimed as Kurt's own face began to turn purple not by holding his breath.

"Vell it did sound..." Kurt began before losing his strength to continue his explanation.

Kitty was actually flattered that Kurt had thought of it that way before feeling sad. "No offence Kurt, I'd love to go on a date with you but..."

"Your history viz ozer boys, ja?" Kurt finished for her getting a nod in reply He smiled as he wrapped her tightly in his arms. "Vhy don't ve just vait, und see vhat ze future has in store for us ja?"

Kitty grinned as she returned the hug. "Keep this up and we'll be together before we know it"

She then quickly kissed Kurt on the cheek just shy of the mouth before phasing out of his arms and walking towards the door. Kurt watched as she phased out the door, after giving him a quick wave, then hearing Stefan and her give a startled yelp. He chuckled as he imagined Kitty suddenly appearing before Stefan giving both a scare. A sudden knock at his door indicated that Stefan was now outside his door.

"It's open" He called out as he turned his attention back to the night sky.

Several seconds later he heard the door open and Stefan entered his room and eventually appeared beside him and stared up at the night sky himself. The two of them remained in silence, both unsure how to broach the subject that was lodged in their minds.

_[You know]_ Stefan began. _[Out of all the talks about family and such the two of us have had, I never expected to have one like this. Well one kind of like this just...not really like this. You get what I'm saying?]_

_[Why?]_ Kurt mumbled. Stefan raised his eyebrows at him, waiting for him to continue. _[Why are you not upset with me?! Upset that I should have been one of the enemy?!]_

_[You mean, _could_]_ Stefan pointed out. _[For all we know, if she managed to escape with you in tow, she might have raised you then sent you here herself and we might've met then]_

_[But it still does not change the fact!]_ Kurt all but yelled at Stefan whilst tears fell from his eyes.

_[What fact?]_ Stefan asked coolly. _[That we're not family? I've looked out for you for as long as I can remember, I can and will proudly say that you will and always will be my brother in all but blood from then, now and until my very last breath! Got it?!]_

Kurt could no longer hold back and practically dove into Stefan's arms before crying his eyes out. Stefan tightened his grasp around his furry brother, letting his own tears fall whilst listening to Kurt mumble apologies into his chest.

In a tree branch not far away from them, perched a solitary raven watching them. In the raven's mind it was happy that it was able to make peace with one of its children and could now start thinking of a way to make peace with its other.

_*~#~*_

_All's well that ends well...for now at least_

_R&R_

_& until next time_

_Watch this space & peace out_


	14. The Bigger Picture

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

**The Bigger Picture**

Stokes County Maximum Security Prison, like its name suggests, is a maximum security prison for dangerous and America's most wanted criminals this side of the US. A lone police cruiser drove up towards its main gate and, after verifying who was in it, drove through when the gate opened.

Making his way through the building, the officer that just arrived only stopped to input the appropriate pass codes and ID registration gates that were built to prevent anyone other than the required personnel from entering further into the compound towards its most dangerous of inmates.

Upon reaching his destination, the officer found himself in a room that contained a large cylinder like prism in its centre. Pressing a few buttons on the control panel, the large cylinder rose up from the ground to reveal a man shackled to the floor in some sort of coma in a large vat of supposedly sleep inducing green liquid. The man inside was a towering seven feet tall and looked as if he could wrestle several bears at once judging by his muscular build. Another press of several buttons and the green liquid started to funnel out of the tank.

"Wake up Cain" Mystique said as she morphed back into her true form. "It's time you had a long overdue reunion with your brother, _Charles Xavier_"

At the sound of his _brother's _name, Cain Marko opened his eyes and looked down at the blue woman standing outside his containment tank.

"Cellular paralysis bio-fluid, amazing" She muttered as she watched the remains the green liquid drain out of the tank. "It actually stopped the unstoppable"

Cain pretended that he did not hear what she said about something stopping him. He _is _the unstoppable Juggernaut, apply named due to the fact that once he started moving there was nothing that could stop him; asides a psychokinetic attack from a high levelled telepath such as Professor Xavier.

"It'll take a few moments before you can move" She continued as she pressed the buttons to open his cell and release him from his shackles. "Then, I'll sneak you out of this horrible prison where, now who was it that locked you in here again?"

She paused for a moment, pretending to think before continuing with her scripted speech to provoke him. "Oh, that's right, your brother _Charles Xavier_"

The features of Juggernaut's face formed a scowl as the woman's words reminded him of his defeat at the hands of his brother. If it were not for him, then the whole world would probably be shaking in their boots at the mere mention of Juggernaut by now.

"Sore subject?" Mystique asked as she made her way to one of the walls of the cell inwardly smiling at how well the plan was going so far.

"Who...are you?" Juggernaut asked slowly still coming round from the effects of the paralyzing water he had been submerged in for god knows how long.

"A deal-maker" Mystique lied as she opened a locker and took out a large dome shaped helmet. "I arrange your _early release_ and you deliver to me one _item _in your brother's possession; his mutant detection system known as Cerebro"

"And...My brother?" Juggernaut asked as he watched the woman walk over to him and fit his helmet into its proper place and snap on the connection buckles.

"I leave his fate in your capable hands" Mystique replied evilly as she finished with the last buckle and stood in front of him. "You are after all the _Unstoppable Juggernaut_"

The next thing she knew, she was sent flying as Juggernaut brushed her aside sending her to the far side of the room.

"_No one_ takes Juggernaut anywhere" He said as he walked towards the nearest wall. And _no one_ gets in my way"

"_Charming_" Mystique said sarcastically from where she lay on the floor watching the man go through the wall as if it were nothing more than paper.

#~*~#

"Remind me again why I'm doing this?" Stefan asked no one in particular of his team.

"We're doing this, because after all that's happened we could all enjoy a little down time at the mall" Kitty replied as she walked at the head of the group with Jean.

The whole X-teen gang was currently plundering the mall. So far it was mostly Kitty and Jean doing the buying which was mostly a few new tops or a pair of shoes or two whilst the rest of the team just followed them although Kurt and Evan bought something for themselves as well whilst Rogue and Scott just window shopped.

"_That_ I gathered. _This_..." Stefan raised his arms each one holding at least two bags each. "...is what I need reminding of"

"It's your punishment for being reckless and for risking your brother's life" She replied as if it were obvious as she walked off with the others following in her wake and Stefan could have sworn there was a slight edge to her words.

"Yeah, _Kit's_ punishment for him for getting her crush injured" Evan whispered to Scott and Rogue as they watched the spectacle unfolding before them.

"As if I'm not punished enough" Stefan muttered loud enough for them all to hear. "Banned from driving _anything_ until my bike gets repaired next week, clean all the vehicles and X-jet at least once every three days for a month and I'm still trying to figure out _how_ you managed to convince Logan to let me off our Danger Room sessions for today let alone all of us. Not to mention I'm still recovering from yesterday morning let alone yesterday afternoon"

"Yer ah man ain't yah Snake-fer-Brains? Just baht thah bullet 'n bear with it" Rogue said as she playfully hit him on the shoulder making him groan in pain.

"More like a shotgun shell than a bullet" Stefan said through gritted teeth.

#~*~#

Logan was bored. The place was too quiet without all the _kids_ going about doing who knows what and he actually preferred it that way. Not that he would ever admit it. He was supposed to be putting them through a new simulation now but Half-pint had managed to get them all out of it. He was starting to think he was going soft. That or Half-pint had somehow managed to worm her way into his heart.

"Cerebro locating any new mutant sigs yet?" Logan asked when he saw the Professor in the lounge sipping tea in the lounge.

"You must be very bored to be asking me that Logan" The Professor mused as he put down his cup. "I would have thought, with the students away, you would be creating new ways to take them to their limits in the Danger Room"

Logan grunted as he sat down across from the Professor. "Hmpf, I prefer waiting until I see how they fair against the ones I've already thought up"

A sudden beeping sound from the desk intermitted the silence indicating that Cerebro had found a new mutant.

"Well, well. It looks like you get your wish after all Logan" The Professor said as he piloted his wheelchair to a nearby wall whilst Logan followed.

The wall opened up to reveal a hidden elevator that led down to the lower levels of the mansion where Cerebro, the Danger Room and X-jet among other things not ment to be shown to the public eye were located. When the Professor and Logan entered the Cerebro chamber, the computer came to life.

**[Discovery, enhanced mutant signature]**It said in a hollow female voice. **[Identity confirmed and matched to archive file]**

"_Archive file_?" The Professor repeated sounding surprised. "Who would-?"

**[Name, Cain Marko]** Cerebro said as a picture of the man suddenly visualised on the monitor rendering the Professor speechless. **[Residents, Stokes County Maximum Security Prison. Current location, in transit east Bayville outskirts]**

"No!" Xavier exclaimed when he saw the position displayed on the map, a blinking red dot approaching the Bayville mall.

"Who's Cain Marko?" Logan asked.

"My half brother" Xavier explained as he continued to stare at the monitor in shock. "Somehow he's managed to escape. But that...that's _impossible_"

"What's an enhanced mutant signature?" Logan asked as he watched the Professor move away from the console and back the way they came. "What's his power for that matter?"

"He possessed an X-gene at birth but was dormant most of his life" The Professor explained as they got into the lift. "Through mysticism, it awoke and he became invulnerable; a human juggernaut"

"And he's near the kids" Logan added. "Want me to-?"

"No" The Professor said sternly. "We'll wait until they call for help. They will have to learn that you and Storm won't always be there to help them"

Logan sighed heavily before looking at the Professor with a serious look. "You'll have to tell them _the_ _truth_ sooner or later Charles. They'll catch on eventually"

"I know" The Professor said looking down at his knees with a resigned look on his face. "If they succeed in stopping Cain, I'll tell them"

"That's _once _they defeat your brother and return you mean" Logan corrected. "They may be kids but compared to what I put them through your brother will be easy"

The Professor managed a small smile as he looked up at his old friend. "If I did not know any better Logan, I'd say you thought of them as your own _pack_ so to say"

"Just don't tell them that or I'll be forced to prove you wrong" Logan retorted as he walked towards the garage.

#~*~#

"So, how are you enjoying the _Olympic mall-athon_ so far Kurt?" Kitty asked before tucking into her veggie burger. The teens were currently enjoying a quick snack in the food court before tackling the rest of the mall.

"Olympic mall-a-what?" Evan asked after finishing his carton of milk.

"It's what Kurt thinks a shopping spree is for us women" Kitty explained getting a few laughs from the rest of them.

"Good comparison" Scott agreed earning him a playful shove from Jean. "Hey it's true!"

"As if you boys aren't shopaholics" She said before quickly stealing one of his fries. "I've seen you Stefan talk about vehicles as much as us girls talk about fashion"

"I'd rather be a car junkie than a fashion junkie any day" Evan declared as his hand slowly made his way towards Stefan's untouched milk carton.

"If you want to live long enough to drive your own car, retract your hand" Stefan growled. How he could know if Evan was trying to steal his milk was a mystery as he was leaning against his chair with his head hanging over the top making him see the world almost upside down.

Evan quickly retracted his hand actually looking scared causing the rest of them to laugh. Kurt however was not laughing; instead he had his eyes closed as if thinking of something. When Kitty noticed her best friend was keeping quiet as if asleep she made to nudge him awake before his words stopped her.

"Can anyvon else hear a thumping sound?" He asked quietly.

When the rest of them quietened down and properly listened they too could hear a thumping sound as if someone had very heavy footsteps. And by the sound of them they were coming closer.

"Man, what's making that sound?" Evan asked out loud.

"Someone similar to Logan's _dear friend _Sabertooth in red spandex, heavy boots and one heck of a weird hat" Stefan said as he pointed behind himself.

He had not moved from his position so he had a clear view of a window showing the outside world, albeit upside down, where the man he just described just walked passed. Quickly heading outside, the teens were just in time to see the man flip a car blocking his way as if it were nothing making it land several feet away on its roof.

"Whoa" Kitty uttered not believing what she just saw.

_~X-men~_ The Professor's voice sounded in their heads making them all jump.

'_Professor!'_ Scott called back. _'We've got-'_

_~I know, I'm already logged into Cerebro and using it to broadcast a mind wave over everyone in the vicinity making them oblivious to what's happening~_ The Professor explained. _~I'm afraid that _you'll_ have to deal with Juggernaut~_

Exclamations were heard from the whole team at the Professor's words.

_~But Professor~_ Jean called back. _~Can't you stop him with your powers?~_

_~I'm afraid not~ _The Professor said sounding regretful. _~His helmet prevents me from entering his mind and subduing him~_

"Then we'll just have to do it the hard way" Scott said. "Kurt, Stefan!"

"On it!" Stefan said before Kurt teleported the two of them in front of juggernauts path.

"Move it squirts!" Juggernaut said in a low tone without stopping forcing the two brothers to quickly step out of his way.

"Vhat's ze hurry big guy" Kurt asked as he suddenly appeared upside down in front of Juggernauts face causing him to stop in surprise. "Did ze circus leave vizout you?"

Juggernaut growled before trying to grab the furless monkey. Kurt flipped off of the giant's helmet and stuck his tongue out at him when he landed. Infuriated, Juggernaut swung his massive fist at him. Seeing his chance Stefan quickly moved in and caught the blow in his hands. The next moment his eyes widened before he was suddenly sent flying landing in a water fountain twenty feet away. Kurt was so stunned by what just happened that he did not teleport away before Juggernaut grabbed him and threw him into the same fountain Stefan was in.

Despite the surprise, Stefan rose unsteadily to his feet before pushing his hair out of his eyes so he could see before staring at the behemoth that somehow broke through his distortion strike.

"Are you one of my brother's team of peacekeepers?" Juggernaut asked from where he was before walking off. "If so then you're hardly worth the effort"

'_Brother? Peacekeeper?'_ Stefan thought to himself as he leaned against the side of the fountain wall whilst Kurt quickly clambered over it before shaking like a dog to get rid of the excess. _'Is he talking about the Professor and the X-men?'_

"Are you two okay?" He heard Jean ask when the rest of the team reached their position.

"Wet and wunderbar" He replied sarcastically as he pulled himself out of the fountain.

"Whit in tarnation happened?" Rogue asked.

"No idea" Stefan admitted. "Best I can think of, he lives up to his namesake making his power near infinite. And no matter how hard I try, I _can't_ distort infinite"

"Then, how are we gonna stop him?" Evan asked.

"Telepathy!" Kitty suddenly exclaimed as she finally put the pieces together. "He wears the helmet because, whilst his brawn is well beyond average, his brain must be weak"

"So whit yer sayin is, we pop his hood then strahk thah brain?" Rogue asked starting to catch on getting an enthusiastic nod from the girl.

"Und just how are ve going to do ze hood popping vizout getting a head bopping?" Kurt asked curiously causing Kitty and Evan to involuntarily laugh at his choice of words.

"I've got an idea" Scott said before bringing them together in a huddle to outline his plan.

#~*~#

Juggernaut strode forever closer to his brother's location. He could almost taste his vengeance before he heard the sounds of two vehicles approaching from behind. The next moment, Rogue shot by on her scooter with Spyke sitting with his back to her. With a flinging motion of his arms, Spyke fired two projectiles that struck the two buckles on his chest that held his helmet in place releasing them.

Nightcrawler then appeared above juggernaut and somersaulted over his head and unbuckled the two buckles on his back in the process. At that moment his feet suddenly sunk into the ground. Emerging from the ground before him Shadowcat grabbed hold of Nightcrawler's outstretched arm as a red convertible suddenly sped by taking her with it. Skidding to a stop Cyclops fired an optics blast at Juggernaut sending his helmet flying off his head whilst Snake-eyes and Jean got out of the convertible and took several steps towards him.

"You ready?" Jean asked and jumped when Snake-eyes looked at her with his Evil-eye active. "That's creepy, you know?"

"Get used to it" Snake-eyes shrugged before turning his attention onto Juggernaut who had just pulled his feet free from the ground. "Pump the telepathy up to max and don't let up until he drops"

Jean nodded. The next second Juggernaut was assaulted by a powerful telepathy attack as Jean unleashed all she had at him whilst Snake-eyes gave just as powerful with a copy of the Professor's combined with his copy of Jean's for good measure. Juggernaut struggled valiantly against the psi attack before eventually succumbing to the onslaught and collapsing into unconsciousness. Seeing him beat, Snake-eyes and Jean cancelled their attack before collapsing to their knees as the toll of their attack reared its ugly head.

"Ugh, ice-cream headache city central" Stefan moaned quietly clutching his head. Jean muttered her agreement as she leaned against him on the verge of collapsing herself.

_~Good work X-men~_ They all heard the Professor say in their minds. _~Logan and Ororo are on their way in the X-jet to return Juggernaut to his rightful place~_

'_Your _brother_ said a couple of things I don't understand Professor Xavier'_ Stefan mentally said saying the Professor's surname to show how serious he was. _'You going to come clean?'_

There was a pregnant pause as the teens waited with baited breath to hear what the Professor would reply with.

_~Return to the mansion as soon as you are possible~_ The Professor replied. _~I shall _explain all_ then~_

#~*~#

"I knew that this day would come no matter what I did to prolong it, so I must first offer you my sincerest apologies" The Professor said as he looked at each of his students who were all gathered in the lounge sitting on chairs sofas or, in Kurt's case, crouching on the fireplace mantle. "Although aiding people whose X-gene have just awakened is one of the X-men's objectives, their true mission is to stop those who wish to use their powers against the human race in general"

"Are you saying we're like, some sort of mutant police force" Kitty asked from her perch beside Kurt on the mantle.

"In a matter of speaking I suppose" The Professor said allowing himself a small chuckle at the girl's metaphor. "I do hope you'll come to forgive me for not telling you the truth when you first arrived and that you will stay with the team"

"Normally, I don't trust people who keep important stuff from me" Stefan said before looking the Professor in the eye and smiling. "But seeing as you've given my brother the freedom he desired and me the chance to focus on my own future, I think I'm gonna stay here a little while more"

"If Brozzer's staying, zen so am I" Kurt said as he teleported onto his brother's shoulders before quickly teleporting up to the chandelier when Stefan yelped in pain when he put pressure on his sore limbs.

"Yah were fahne durin thah fahght yet now yer in pain again?" Rogue said sounding exasperated.

"The wonders of adrenaline" Stefan stated.

Rogue shook her head. "Well, despaht the weird housemates, ahm in"

"Me too!" Kitty piped in.

"I've got too many girls on the school sports teams counting on me to back out now so I'm in" Jean said.

"Much as I'd love to head back to familiar grounds, I'm gonna stick around also" Evan said.

"Looks like you've still got us for a good while yet Professor" Scott said

The Professor smiled. "And for that, I am grateful"

_*~#~*_

_& I'm grateful to all my fans for continuously reading my work_

_& for a bit of trivia: Which three manga characters powers/abilities are Stefan's powers based on?_

_Reply with your review if you know_

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out_


	15. The Meeting

_If you clicked on the heading __**In All but Blood,**__ then ignore this paragraph. If you clicked on the double arrow beside the heading, click on the box that has this chapter's title in it and select __**Welcome to the Team**__; you'll find the disclaimer there._

**The Meeting**

"Und next up for ze long jump, is Kitty Pryde for team Xavier" Kurt said into his empty soda can pretending to be an announcer as he watched from the empty stands.

Down on the field below, Kitty's class was doing P.E on the outdoor activities. The girl in the elf's sights was about to do the long jump, and she looked nervous from where he was sitting. Taking a deep breath, Kitty ran along the track towards the sand bunk, took several stumbling steps before landing face first in the bunk sending sand everywhere.

"Zat must've hurt" Kurt mumbled not sounding at all surprised by what happened whilst lowering the can. Throughout the entire period he had seen Kitty either trip over her own feet or fall from whatever gymnastic equipment she was attempting to master. "She is named after a graceful animal, yet is ze complete opposite. Vhat's ze vord zat describes zis?"

"_Irony_? Or _ironic_?"

Kurt's fur stood on end when he heard the voice behind him. Swiftly spinning round whilst standing up, Kurt nearly lost his balance and tumbled backwards down the stands before Stefan grabbed his arm. Tugging lightly to allow his brother to regain his balance, Stefan looked expectantly from him to Kitty silently asking why he was here instead of his history class.

"Ve are supposed to be using ze library zis period to find ze research needed for our weekend homevork" Kurt explained as he sat down beside his brother.

"I didn't know that the library had been relocated" Stefan remarked before nodding at where Kitty was currently sitting looking rather disheartened. "You'd think that, with all we've been through, she would be able to do a simple jump"

"It's vorse zan zat" Kurt said sadly. "She has not made von successful attempt on _anyzing_ since ze period started"

Stefan gave a low whistle. At that moment the bell rang and the class down on the field began to file back towards the changing rooms, all but one. Kurt turned to his brother to tell him that he would catch up only to find that Stefan had already disappeared. Despite being perplexed about how his brother could disappear so suddenly, Kurt made his way down the stands towards the lone girl that had barely moved since she had crash landed.

Staring at a patch of ground in front of her, Kitty felt both disheartened and disappointed with herself. She could ace any test no problem yet she could not complete one successful attempt at anything sports-wise. Despite hearing the bell, Kitty remained where she was until a familiar shadow had cast itself over her.

"Hey fuzzy elf" She said without her usual cheerfulness.

"I zhought _I_ vas ze blue von" Kurt chuckled as he sat down beside her.

"This is so stupid" Kitty sighed leaning her head on Kurt's shoulder. "Give me a test paper and I'll ace it no problem, give me something practical and I'll get the exact opposite. And what are _you_ laughing at?"

She added that last part when she felt Kurt start to shake as he tried to suppress his laughter. Lifting her head, she glared at him when she realised that he was, apparently, laughing at her.

"Ve've known each ozer how long now?" Kurt asked.

"Just over two weeks yesterday" Kitty answered instantly. She would not admit it to anyone, but Kitty even knew the exact time they first met and had it written in her diary of that day.

"Und in zose two veeks, ve have learned zat I'm ze a-the-letic von vhilst you're ze smart von, ja?"

Kitty could not help but giggle. Kurt had a problem saying the _'th'_ syllable and was barely able to say _'the'_ without his accent. Going back to the topic at hand, Kitty felt like slapping herself when she realised what Kurt was getting at.

"I'm an idiot, aren't I?" She asked sheepishly feeling the blood flow to her cheeks.

"Given zat ve boz had no real friends before meeting von anozer, it's no surprise zat ve vouldn't ask each ozer for help so readily" Kurt said as he put an arm round her shoulders.

"You're saying that your lessons are not free?" Kitty asked quirking an eyebrow at her fuzzy friend.

"I'm saying zat-nien asking if..." Kurt took a moment to compose himself. "Can you give me a hand viz mien History assignment? Und if you'd like I can help you viz you gym problem in return"

"I'm gonna pretend you never said that last part Kurt" Kitty said causing Kurt to look away. He was therefore surprised when she gently turned his head towards her. "Would you mind giving me some help to salvage my P.E grade this weekend?"

Kurt's megawatt grin, as some of the housemates decided to dub it, immediately appeared on his face. "None at all mien lieb"

From the shadows of the stands, Stefan grinned at the two of them. He was actually wondering how Kitty would take it when she finally realised what the German word _'lieb'_ meant in English.

'_Probably with a beet red face, smiling all the while'_ He thought to himself as he made his way to the parking lot where the rest of the team was probably starting to arrive.

Up in her office, Principle Darkholme was fortunate enough to just be able to see the two teens situated in the field. She was unable to allow a smile to grace her features as she knew _he_ would be here at any moment. Predictably, several paper clips suddenly started to float about in a figure of eight of their own accord.

"Punctual as always, Magneto" She said as she turned to face the shadowed corner of her office as she morphed herself into her true form.

"The time has come for the two of us to meet face to face" Magneto said apparently ignoring Mystique's attempt at idle banter, referring to the meeting between him and Stefan. "I need you to find a way of separating him from the rest of Charles' bunch"

Mystique quickly looked out her office window to see most of the Xavier kids taking off in a red convertible whilst Rogue gave Stefan a lift back to the mansion on her scooter.

"I think I can come up with a plan for you" She said as said plan started to form in her mind.

#*~*#

"Cannonball!" Kurt yelled after reappearing fifteen feet above the deep end of the pool and curling up into a ball of falling fur.

The team had decided to celebrate the end of the school week by having a pool party. At the moment Scott, Stefan, Evan and Kurt were having a diving contest, Jean and Kitty sunbathed on the nearby deckchairs whilst Rogue remained fully clothed in hers as she immersed herself in her book. The splash that Kurt made as he entered the pool sent water everywhere hitting Jean and Kitty in the process causing them to squeal.

When Kurt's head emerged from the water, it was struck with an inflatable ball Kitty threw at him sending the rest of the guys into peals of laughter as Kurt quickly submerged his head again in case he was attacked again. Kitty stood at the side of the pool with another ball waiting for the elf to reappear. Seeing that he was nowhere near where she stood, Kitty turned and was about to head back to her deckchair when something suddenly shot out of the pool, wrapped its arms around her waist then jumped back into the pool barely giving Kitty enough time to scream before going under.

Resurfacing, Kitty took in a deep breath to accommodate her empty lungs before turning round and glaring at the top of Kurt's head which was only showing up to his smiling eyes. Putting both hands on top of his head, Kitty forced the elf back underwater and attempted to keep him under before shrieking as Kurt's hands began tickling her.

"Can't they do thaht someplace else?" Rogue grumbled as she tried to block out the screams and focus on her book before it was suddenly snatched from her grasp before she could react.

"What is it with goths and creatures from horror movies and the like?" Stefan asked as he quickly skimmed through the book.

Rogue quickly got out of her deckchair and tried to swipe her book back only to clasp air as Stefan skilfully evaded her whilst still reading the book. Making several more attempts, Rogue grew more and more frustrated as her prey continued to dance just out of her reach. When Stefan halted suddenly, probably due to a rather disturbing scene in the book judging by the raised eyebrows, Rogue saw her chance and dove at him only to be surprised when Stefan lightly tossed the book into the air, grabbed Rogue by the wrists and flip her into the pool before catching the book and throwing it onto the vacant deckchair.

"Who was it that said I couldn't get Rogue in the pool?" He asked looking expectantly at Scott and Evan who had said so.

"Man, were you the circus troupe's daredevil back in Germany?" Evan asked. "Cuz you definitely got a death wish"

At that moment, Rogue had pulled herself out of the pool and the look she gave Stefan just now was one that promised a painful death on his part. She slowly started to move towards him as she tugged off her soaked gloves.

"When ah git mah mitts on yah" Rogue whispered softly but dangerously and gradually started to get louder. "Ah'm gonna absorb yah 'til ah know all yer embarrassing moments 'n put them on the internet fer all tah see!"

Stefan gulped, he could take on the brotherhood singlehanded without his powers and show no fear but take on an enraged Rogue was something even he found intimidating, especially after what she just promised to do to him.

"You wouldn't" He started before bolting it in the opposite direction as Rogue had finished removing her gloves and was now high tailing it after him. The rest of the team watched and rooted for either Stefan to keep going or for Rogue to get him until Logan showed up holding a telephone.

"Pipe down all of ya" He growled apparently angry about letting them have another day without a danger room session. "There's a call for ya Copycat, sounds like your rides fixed"

Stefan caught the phone Logan threw at him in one hand and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

'_Hey there bucko, this is _Fix 'n Fits_ callin to inform yah that your rides trimmed, primed and ready for yah!'_ Said, Stefan assumed was, the phone operator of the garage. _'Would yah kindly mind comin down now 'n picking it up pronto? Ah got me a big rig comin in 'n I'll need all the space I kin gets'_

"Uh, sure" Stefan replied staring warily at the phone. "I'll be there...pronto?"

'_Glad to hear it bucko, see ya real soon -_click-_'_

Stefan pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it as if it was some piece of alien technology. "Talk about taking all kinds to make a world"

Over at the 'Fix 'n Fits' garage a goateed mechanic in greased overalls looked down at an exact duplicate of himself on the floor who was all tied up.

"There is no need to worry" Mystique said as she morphed back into her natural form. "I'm sure you'll get paid when his bike _is_ finished"

#*~*#

Stefan casually made his way towards the garage on foot. He was offered a lift from both Scott and Rogue but he declined saying that the moment he got his bike he would be giving it a trial run along the highway and back to see if it could still go the distance before heading home. As he neared his destination, Stefan suddenly felt as if he was being watched.

The next second, a nearby lamppost pulled itself out of the ground and speared towards him. Despite his surprise, Stefan managed to jump out of the way whilst the lamppost dug itself into the ground several feet from where he was now standing. It was not over yet however, as several of its brethren began pulling themselves out of the ground whilst a nearby manhole cover floated into the air before hurling towards him at varying speeds. Stefan ducked one lamppost, jumped the second, used the third as a stepping stone then deflected the large metal Frisbee using a distortion, replacing the force of impact on the back end of the disc making it fly over head.

"If you wanted to see me, you could've just phoned and asked" Stefan said as he looked round for the person responsible.

"I do not freely let people meet me until they have proven their worth" Said a voice from the sky.

Looking up, Stefan's normally dormant temper flared into life when he saw someone wearing gleaming red armour, a purple cape and an intimidating red and purple helmet that cast his face in shadows slowly float down to the ground with his arms crossed as if to seem even more intimidating then he truly was.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Stefan asked barely keeping his temper in check. "Knowing I'm worthy enough to meet some Superman wannabe?"

"My name is Magneto, leader of the forces against homo-sapiens" The man said once he touched down on the ground.

"So, you're the head of the self-loathing society?" A smirking Stefan could not help but ask despite knowing what the man truly meant. _'This guy must be the Professor's nemesis judging by what he just said'_

"Homo-sapiens is the human race without the X-gene" Magneto explained. "_We_ are Homo-superiors, the advanced race and true rulers of the world"

"Forgive me for sounding rude, but cut the crap and get to the point!" Stefan said sounding a little impatient.

"Very well then" Magneto said smiling slightly thinking Stefan disliked small talk. "I am offering you the chance to join me in my conquest against those who think they should rule"

"Figures" Stefan mumbled. He knew that, out of all the X-men, he was probably one of the most dangerous and was thinking of asking if he could just stay at the mansion as a teacher instead of going on missions once he gained too many powers in his repertoire making him a veritable one man army. "What's in it for me?"

Magneto grinned, he was expecting this. "As my right hand man, you will be the second most powerful mutant in my army. Together the two of us will over throw the human government allowing those like your brother the chance to walk freely without use of camouflage technology and fear of being attacked"

Stefan turned his face downward to impersonate looking as if he was thinking it over as he felt his temper start to rise beyond boiling point. He hoped that if Magneto knew what was good for him, he would leave now before he reached the point of no return which was quickly approaching. Magneto meanwhile, watched patiently thinking that if had not turned him already, then his trump card would have him hook, line and sinker.

"If you are still unsure then, with your permission, I would like to take samples from you allowing me to finally complete my research and use its results to properly transform your brother into what he could truly be" He said unaware of the aura that was emanating off of Stefan. "Yes, I can see it now. The two of you as the generals of my armies, of light and darkness respectively slaughtering all that stand in my way"

"Not gonna happen"

"What?!" Magneto exclaimed glaring at the teen that had just turned down his offer.

"While it's true that, given what I've had to endure for my brother's sake, during my childhood I would not mind seeking vengeance for what they did" Stefan said still staring at the ground. "That would make me no better than them"

"Are you declining my offer?" Magneto growled.

"The only reason you are doing this" Stefan continued ignoring the question at hand. "Is because, you must've had a troubled childhood yourself, probably due to the second World War I'm guessing"

"Are you saying that I am no better than them?!" Magneto snarled.

At this Stefan raised his head allowing Magneto to see his fury etched face. "Got it in one"

"Do not attempt to put me with _them_!" Magneto said as he used his power to call forth several cars from the nearby junkyard and have them hover menacing around him and Stefan. "No one is above _me_, not even your mentor!"

"Then prove it!" Stefan snarled activating his evil-eye. "Before I dent your helmet, _and_ your pride; assuming I let you live after what you did to Kurt!"

With that Snake-eyes slammed his foot into the ground and sent up a large slab of concrete before sending it shooting towards Magneto with telekinesis. Magneto calmly moved one of the cars into the projectiles path. His eyes widened when, as the car took the impact of the projectile, Snake-eyes suddenly phased through the makeshift shield and punch him square in the chest sending him flying backwards. Not yet finished, Snake-eyes ran after him and dealt a lethal uppercut to the master of magnetism before teleporting above him and heel-dropping him sending Magneto face first into the concrete.

"Th-this is not possible!" Magneto said as he stood up and sent the remaining two cars under his control towards his opponent who just redirected them elsewhere with a flick of the wrist. "No one is stronger than me!"

"Then it's time for you to wake up and smell the daisies" Snake-eyes stated using the last of his evil-eye use to shoot a spike soaring into the air before catching it and pointing it at Magneto's heart as his eyes reverted back to normal. "Before you start pushing them up anyways"

Pulling his arm back as far as it would go, Snake-eyes made to spear Magneto before his spear was shot out of his hand by an optics blast whilst he was struck with a telekinetic wave sending him to the ground and allowing the rest of the X-men team to dog pile him in an attempt to hold him down. Seeing his chance, Magneto quickly retreated into the air and back to his base. Snake-eyes however, saw him leave and activated his second use of the evil-eye.

"COWARD!" He yelled as he sent everyone flying with a telekinetic explosion. "FACE ME!"

His snake like eyes locked onto his fleeing foe before glowing bright red. Almost instantly they reverted back to normal when Rogue's hands latched onto his face rendering him unconscious within seconds. Releasing him, Rogue clutched her own head as memories of Stefan's past moved through her mind at an alarming rate.

"Rogue, what's wrong?" Kitty asked from beside the now crouched goth whilst she still held her head.

"Ah think ah've absorbed Stefan's childhood memories" Rogue groaned. "'N all 'o them ain't nowhere near pleasant"

"If that guy was the one who made Kurt the way he is-no offense Kurt" Jean added to the elf that helping Scott shoulder an unconscious Stefan. "Then Stefan must've been using those memories to fuel him"

"Sounds like Stefan just pulled a Wolverine" Evan remarked. "Hack now, talk never"

"Let's get back to the mansion before he wakes up" Scott said as he and Kurt made their way back to the X-van with Stefan between them. "If we're lucky he might not wake until tomorrow and forget about what's happened today"

"Lucky him" Rogue said as she walked back to the X-van with Kitty's help.

#*~*#

If she was confused about what Rogue meant earlier, Kitty fully understood what she meant now. She lay in her own bed watching her roommate moan and sometimes thrash about in her sleep as Stefan's memories flitted through her dreams. She knew from her conversations with Kurt that the Wagner brothers past were unpleasant. Several times she tried to get Rogue to talk about what she saw but was denied not wanting to say anything without Stefan's approval apparently.

As she was about to consider calling the Professor and mentally asking if he knew of a way to help the girl, Kitty's eyes were instantly drawn to the door as it opened wide enough for someone to slip through. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw someone slip through the gap and walk stealthily towards Rogue's bed. Gently cupping the girl's face, the figure gently kissed Rogue on the lips before pulling away from the now peacefully sleeping girl.

"That was my third and final use you made me use" The figure said. "And I'd say it was worth it if you were awake"

Saying that, the figure swiftly left the room leaving the peacefully sleeping Rogue and the stunned and slightly blushing Kitty alone in the room.

"Like. No. Way"

_*~#~*_

_Review if possible_

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out_


	16. Author's Note

**APRIL FOOL!**

_Bet that fooled a few of you. Come on, did you really think I would leave a good story hanging? Okay I can feel Shadow glaring at me from across the ocean so I'm just gonna say 'disclaimers on chapter one then disappear._

_Enjoy._

**One Step Forward, Two Steps Back**

The irritating buzz of the alarm clock sounding at six in the morning caused Kitty to groan loudly as she rolled over towards the side of her bed closest to where the noise maker was and phase her hand through it, effectively turning it off. Instead of going back to sleep however, Kitty managed to stumble out of her bed and was beginning to stretch out the kinks in her body as she yawned loudly when a pillow came into contact with her face.

"What's the big idea?!" Kitty spluttered as she glared at her roommate who was now hidden under the covers.

"Thaht's mah line" Rogue grumbled. "Whah is yer alarm declarin thah rahse of dawn on a _Saturday_?"

"Were you enjoying a pleasant dream?" Kitty asked curiously.

"_Was_, until lil Ms Bigmouth intervened" Rogue replied smirking underneath her sheets when she heard Kitty exclaim at what she had called her.

"Well, sorry if I interrupted your pleasant dream about something, or was it some_one_?" Kitty countered as she remembered what she saw last night.

"None 'o yer beeswax!" Rogue said as she stuck her head out from under the sheets to glare at the interrogator. "An yah still ain't answered mah question"

"Kurt's helping me with my lack of gymnastic grace" Kitty explained as she sat down on her own bed. "And in return, I'm helping him with his history homework"

Rogue stared incredulously at the teenybopper before her. "Girl, ah don't think even those two get up at this tahme during thah weekend" Those two obviously meaning the Wagner brothers.

"Are you joking? Please tell me you are"

"Go fahnd fuzzbahll 'n fahnd out fer yerself" Rogue grunted as she tried to get back to sleep. "An if ahm raht, bunk in his room instead of comin back here in a foul mood"

Kitty grumbled as she phased through the door to her room and walked up the hallway until she reached Kurt's room. Cautiously phasing her head through the door, Kitty saw that Kurt was still asleep. Quietly sneaking up on him, Kitty suppressed a giggle as she watched the end of Kurt's tail rise and fall in sync with his breathing.

"Kurt?" Kitty whispered gently as she shook the elf. "Are you awake?"

_[Who _wouldn't_ be at this time of the day?] _Kurt mumbled sarcastically as he twisted his head round to see who was disturbing his sleep. "Are you zat eager to become more like your namesake Kitty?"

"I thought you'd be up by now" Kitty admitted causing Kurt to snort.

"Just because I look inhuman does not mean I am inhuman" Kurt said as he shifted over to allow Kitty some room on his bed. "You might as vell stay here to avoid ze wrath of Frau Sunshine"

Kitty did giggle this time as she gratefully accepted Kurt's offer. Sliding under the covers, Kitty pressed her head against Kurt's back as she tried to get back to sleep. Unfortunately, because she had gotten up and walked about a bit, sleep did not seem to be taking her. Seeing as how plan A had failed, Kitty decided to move to plan B.

"Kurt? Are you still awake?"

_[Not when there is an angel sleeping in my bed with me] _Kurt murmured in German before replying properly in English. "Nien, I fear you might jump me ze moment I drift to sleep"

"As if someone like me should be allowed to do _that_" He heard her say in the same cheerless tone he had heard yesterday making him roll over to see his best friend looking rather ashamed of herself.

"Vhat's wrong? Vhy did you say zat?" he asked clearly fearing that he had done something wrong to make her like this. "If it vas vhat I said vhen you asked if I vas still avake, zhen-"

"It's not something _you've_ done Kurt" Kitty interrupted. "It's what I almost did when we first met"

"Vhat are you talking about?" Kurt asked a lump forming in the bottomless pit of his stomach as he had a good guess about what she was about to confess.

"I nearly called you a demon!" Kitty sobbed as tears made their way down the side of her face. "I was about to say you were a blue fuzzy demon, when you scrunched up your face as if waiting for the inevitable. It made me realise; you were just like me, only worse so I quickly said the first-well second thing that came to my mind when I looked at you. I'm sorry"

Kurt was, for possibly the first time since coming to the mansion, speechless. In front of him, was the girl he thought of as his best girl friend who had just admitted that she had almost gone down the same path as the many others who could not look past appearances. Yet instead, she chose a different path altogether wanting to gain his friendship rather than his supposed wrath.

In response, he did the only thing he knew that could show her his appreciation and hugged her tightly. Kitty, too busy wrapped up in her own world, was shocked when she suddenly found herself in Kurt's warm embrace.

"Why?" she muttered into his chest.

"Everyvon needs a shoulder to cry on" Kurt replied. "You've been killing yourself over something you shouldn't be. I should be zhanking you for vanting to know _me _razzer zan go viz ze flow und run avay screaming"

"Dammit, Fuzzy!" Kitty cried as a fresh wave of tears burst through the dam whilst she wrapped Kurt in her own arms. "That kind and forgiving personality of yours will be your undoing"

"I know" Kurt whispered as he felt Kitty slowly fall back to sleep having been relieved of what had been a terrible burden for her. _[I've already lost my heart to you because of it, my love]_

*/#\*

"Alright zen" Kurt began as the two of them walked onto the mansions outdoor sports field. It was almost like looking at an exact replica of the field Kitty and her class was on yesterday. "Since you're a klutz in all but ze hundred metre dash-"

"Thanks for making me feel _so_ much better Fuzzy Coach" Kitty said sarcastically as she shoved her _coach_.

"Ve'll start viz ze simple long jump" Kurt finished as if Kitty had not ignored him.

"_Simple_?" Kitty snorted. "Kurt, I can make the simplest of events look like it should only be done by a professional. Come to think of it, why aren't you on the athletics team; you could probably run circles around them without even trying?"

Almost as soon as she finished asking, Kitty clasped both hands over her mouth. She knew that Kurt was lucky enough to be given a chance to experience a normal life. If he were to try and stand out and become as popular as Jean, who was one of the most popular students in her year, then he would be in more danger of being found out than he was right now.

"Sorry" she mumbled before shrieking in laughter when Kurt's tail somehow managed to snake under her T-shirt and attack her ribs.

"First rule, vhen vorking viz ze fuzzy von, no frowns or anything that can be seen as a negative emotion" Kurt said as he retracted his tail from the item of clothing leaving a slightly breathless and red faced Kitty plotting revenge for a later date.

"Any other rules I need to know?" Kitty asked when she got her breath back.

Kurt gave her an encouraging and confident smile. "Trust ze fuzzy von, und you'll go far"

'_Don't, and he'll teleport you _further_'_ Kitty thought as she followed Kurt towards the event he was going to teach her first.

"Here's vhat you're going to do" Kurt explained when they reached their destination. "I vant you to run as fast as you can towards ze sand bunk und vhen I say jump, you jump vhilst placing boz feet in front of you"

Kitty resisted the urge to ask if he was going to make her go through a hoop afterwards and got herself ready. Taking a deep breath, Kitty ran full speed towards the bunk silently hoping her best friend knew what he was doing.

"NOW!" Kurt barked and Kitty immediately propelled herself skywards and landed in the sand bunk roughly six feet from where she kicked off the ground. To put it lightly, Kitty was surprised at herself.

"Now, you're going to do it again, except this time I von't be telling you vhen to jump; you'll have to figure it out yourself this time"

Amazingly, Kitty managed a successful second attempt and had even landed further than her first jump. Using Kurt's method of training, by the time lunch had rolled round Kitty had managed to get a beginners level of mastery on all the gymnastic apparatus minus the more aerobic events that Kurt had almost literally been raised doing.

"I'm beginning to zhink zat you vere only pretending to be terrible so zat you could get some pointers off of me" Kurt remarked as he watched Kitty do a perfect Katherine wheel without his help. "Zat or mien being here is giving you encouragement"

Kitty turned to face Kurt so she could stick her tongue out at him, only to lose her balance and fall head first into him sending both to the ground. Kurt attempted to catch her but his response time was sluggish so instead he ended up being pulled to the ground on top of her.

"Guess I spoke too soon" Kurt joked propping himself on his elbows as he looked down at Kitty who chuckled weakly.

"Well you did say I was a klutz earlier" Kitty countered as her cheeks started to turn pink when she realised the position they were in.

"I did, didn't I?" Kurt said as he slowly leaned down closer to her.

They were almost nose to nose when he saw it. A brief flicker in her sky blue eyes, of an emotion he was very familiar with; fear. Ashamed of himself for his stupidity and selfishness, Kurt stood up and teleported away.

"Kurt, wait!" Kitty tried to say before he bamfed away but was too late.

Lying back down on the ground, Kitty felt like screaming for blowing up the best chance she had yet. She thought she had managed to get over her fear of having a relationship, only for it to rear its ugly head, even for a mere fraction of a second, and cause Kurt to leave feeling terrible for what he had tried to do.

Quickly getting up, Kitty ran towards the mansion and Kurt's room, hoping that she could talk to him before he went to his brother for guidance. Reaching his room, Kitty phased her head through the door to see Kurt face down on his bed looking blue both literally and metaphorically for once.

"Vhy are you chasing after me?" Kurt asked without looking at the door Kitty had just phased through.

"How did you know it was me?" Kitty asked curiously as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Because I'm your best friend I suppose" Kurt shrugged.

"Ditto, asides the 'I suppose' part for your question for me" Kitty said lying down beside the elf and leaning against him. "We both agreed that we would just wait and see what would happen to us, maybe it is not _that time_ yet"

"So, you're not angry viz me?" Kurt asked hopefully causing Kitty to scoff.

"I'm more angry with myself for letting the moment slip through my fingers" Kitty admitted. "So much for thinking that seeing Stefan kissing Rogue would help me over come my stupid phobia"

"Vhat did you say?!" Kurt said as he sprung into a sitting position upon hearing what Kitty had just said.

"Stefan crept into mine and Rogue's room last night and used a combination of Rogue's and, I'm guessing, the Professor's powers to remove his memories from her mind and steal a kiss from her at the same time whilst she was asleep" Kitty explained. "If I knew that was going to happen, I would have had a camera ready to capture the moment"

"Und tease zem endlessly viz. Zat's cruel" Kurt said trying to sound like he was against it before grinning mischievously. "Vant to prepare for next time?"

_*/#\*_

_Hope that makes up for the cruel joke._

_Review if possible_

_& 'til next time_

_Watch this space, peace out & have a great April fool's Day!_


	17. Trips & Traps

_I apologise for not updating my fics more often. Hope this chapter makes up for the wait._

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

**Trips & Traps**

The blond haired surfer groaned lightly as he lay on the beach, his hands as well as his arms were still smarting from what had happened just a few minutes ago. He had been relaxing atop his board as he waited for the waves to pick up, only to find himself in a real-life Jaws moment when a shark appeared seemingly out of nowhere and made him fall off the board.

When the shark came round for another bite, he instinctively raised his arms, palm out, as if to fend off the assault only to be surprised when a blast of red energy came shooting out of his hands and striking the shark. As if suddenly knowing what to do, he fires a second blast at the shark causing it to swim away and find something else for dinner. Now, after swimming to shore, he was lying down on the hot sand as his arms burned as if on fire.

"Can my life get any worse?" The boy thought to himself. He had already lost his parents and elder brother in a plane crash when he was younger and now it seemed that he was going to die from this strange burning sensation.

A shadow suddenly covered him as a person suddenly walked up to him from seemingly nowhere. Looking up, the boy could see the outline of what appeared to be a man in a red suit, purple cape and a helmet.

"I know the pain you are feeling Alex" The man said. "I once felt that as well when I discovered my powers"

"Where did you come from?" The boy, Alex, asked as he scrambled to his feet.

"I just arrived, and I have come to meet you" The man replied offering his hand in a gesture of friendship. "I know of your-"

"You don't know nuthin, man!" Alex interrupted. "Leave me alone!"

With that, Alex turned around and walked off only to be surprised when he saw the man float over his head to land before him.

"I can give you relief from your pain, answers to your questions and even reunite you with your brother" The man said his hidden face smirking when he saw Alex look stunned at the last part.

"My brother's dead! Same as my folks, so just back off!" Alex yelled yet he did nothing to walk away.

"No Alex, he is alive. And soon you will see him again" The man said offering his hand again. "That is, if you join me"

Alex stared at the man's hand for a few seconds weighing his options.

"If I cooperate, will you keep your word?" He asked suspiciously.

'_Him and Charles are probably already on their way here right now'_ The man thought to himself. "You have my word that he will be here within the hour"

"Who are you?" Alex asked.

"I am Magneto, founder of the Brotherhood of Mutants, a select group of people like you. You should be honoured, because only the best may join" Magneto said.

Alex clasped Magneto's hand. "_Alex Summers_"

*/#\*

The red convertible roared along the drive way to the Mansion. Not minutes ago Scott had received a telepathic message from the Professor saying that his brother, who he thought had died along with his parents in a plane crash ten years ago, was not only alive but a mutant like himself. When the Professor told him that the X-jet was being prepped up and would leave once he got there, Scott floored it the rest of the way back to the mansion.

Jean, who was currently in the passenger seat, was thankful that the news was given to him after school not during because he might have just upped and left without an explanation. She was also beginning to wish that she had asked Stefan to pick her up from practice seeing that she was now in a red rocket rather than a convertible.

"Scott, just stop out front. I'll park it for you" Jean said or rather yelled over the roar of the engine as the mansion got ever closer.

As if saying the magic words Scott slammed his foot on the brakes making the convertible screech to a halt outside the front door to the mansion.

"Thanks, Jean" Scott said as he got out of the car and made a beeline for the lift to the underground levels to the mansion.

Jean was surprised to say the least. Normally, Scott would be so protective of his baby, as Kurt and Evan had joked about it, that he would not even let her or Stefan behind the wheel despite knowing that the two of them would not do something reckless with it.

'_He must really be anxious to see his brother'_ Jean thought as she got into the driver seat and drove toward the garage at a more leisurely speed. _'Although, I suppose I can't blame him'_

Having been at the mansion longer than the other students, Jean and Scott had come to know each other so well that it was almost like reading an open book without Jean having to use her powers; or at least that was what Scott believed. Whilst Jean still had her parents, Scott had lost his and, he thought at the time, his younger brother Alex.

'_I wonder if Alex will be anything like Kurt is to Stefan'_ She wondered as she parked the car.

Several times she and the girls had speculated that Stefan and Scott seemed to be cut from the same cloth; very responsible for their age and always cool headed regardless of the situation with the only difference being that Stefan knew when and where to act his age and Scott did not. Jean would have jumped to Scott's defence saying that he did chill out, but kept it to herself for fear of them implying that she had a crush on him although she _knew_ who they had crushes on as well.

As she began to make her way back to the mansion, Jean saw a blur fall down from the nearby trees and into the bushes underneath. Thinking that it was probably Kurt and Stefan doing one of their circus style exercises, Jean carefully made her way through the bushes, eager to witness the brothers in their element. Upon reaching the other side of the bushes, all Jean saw was an empty clearing. Before she could turn around and head back to the mansion, a bush suddenly shook on the far side of the clearing. Thinking that it was either Kurt or Evan trying to prank her, Jean used her telekinesis to pull the bush up and out of the ground allowing her to come face to face with-

"Toad?" She exclaimed when the foul smelling, frog crouching looked at her in surprise.

"So that's the way you wanna play yo?" Toad asked before hopping over Jean's head, landing and then springing towards her like a missile only to be sent flying over her again by the girl's telekinesis and landing face first into the ground.

"What are you doing here Toad?" Jean asked as she walked towards him. "What's this all about?"

"Just gettin the jump on the competition" Toad answered as he swiped the legs out from under a surprised Jean before springing high into the air. "Never underestimate a toad yo!"

From her position on the ground, Jean caught Toad with her telekinesis again and this time threw him into the nearby well nodding in satisfaction when she heard the splash a couple of seconds later.

"I have no idea what you are on about Toad" Jean stated as she got up. "But you had better cool off while you're down there before high tailing it out of here"

With that, Jean made to leave only to stop short when a whistling sound was heard followed by a large metallic sphere crashing down to earth just metres from where she was standing. Before she could contemplate calling the Professor, the large sphere opened up and several steel tentacles suddenly shot out, grabbed and pulled her back in before rising back into the air.

"NO!" Toad shouted when he pulled himself out of the well with his tongue and saw the sphere leave. "It wasn't over yet, I would've still won!"

Regardless of whether the sphere, or its master, heard him or not, it continued its accent into the heavens with its prize.

*/#\*

"Hey, what's the stitch?" Evan exclaimed as he, Rogue and Kitty entered the hanger in time to see the X-jet shoot out the hanger. "I thought we were Hawaii bound!"

Kurt suddenly teleported into the hanger. Carrying a rectangular float under one arm and his inducer showing him in a pair of midnight cargo shorts, a green shirt patterned with yellow flowers and a pale green bucket hat, he looked like he was about to on vacation.

"Here I am! Ready to-" Kurt paused his speech when he saw that there was no jet and nobody in the hanger not realising his back was to his comrades. "Aw man! Zey left vizout me!"

"Now yah know how we feel" Rogue said from behind him causing the elf to jump slightly before whipping round to see them. "They totally ditched us!"

"Well, seeing that Scott never knew his brother had survived ten years ago, I wouldn't want a crowd either" Kitty reasoned. "I'm sure you and your brother will agree with me on that, right Kurt?"

Kurt however was apparently thinking and had not realised he was being spoken to. Suddenly, as if a light bulb lit up inside his head, he snapped his fingers and turned to the rest of the group. "Hey, Hawaii's not ze only beach in ze vorld right?"

The other three just looked at him confused.

"Hello-o, road trip anyvon?"

*/#\*

"Hey, what's with the summer fashion show?" Stefan asked from atop his bike when he saw the four of them enter the garage wearing summer gear and carrying beach equipment and a large picnic basket to the X-van.

"Ve're gonna go hit ze vaves at ze nearest beach seeing as ve veren't invited to ze trip to Hawaii" Kurt explained as he helped Evan load up the van whilst the girls got into the back seats of the van. "Vant to come viz?"

"I'll pass" Stefan replied before donning his bike helmet. "I finally got my bike back from the repair shop, and I'm gonna put the girl through her paces on the freeway in the opposite direction"

"C'mon K-man, fore Auntie O tries to dry dock us!" Evan called out from the passenger seat.

Kurt gave his brother a two finger salute before running round to the other side of the van and getting into the driver's seat. Within moments, the X-van roared into life the same same time as Stefan's bike. As the roof of the X-van pulled away to allow it occupants to feel the wind and sun as they travelled, Stefan cranked back on the throttle popping a wheelie as he shot out of the garage and headed for the main entrance with the van in hot pursuit.

Only when the smoke from the bike's tires and exhaust fumes dissipated, did a pale brown alley cat poke its head out from the bush it was hiding in. As it watched the vehicles disappear through the main gates, the cat morphed into Mystique who brought her wrist communicator to her lips.

"Looks like there will be a change of plans" She said into the communicator before giving whoever was receiving her signal the directions of which the vehicles are going. "If you wish to win, then go after the van. _He'll_ take care of the other"

"Works for us" Avalanche's voice said over the communicator.

*/#\*

"I can't believe my little brother's been alive this whole time" Scott said to himself as he sat in the seat behind Logan who was piloting the X-jet. "I should've not just accepted it without proof; I should've looked for him. If I did, maybe-"

"Cool it shades" Logan interrupted having already heard the teen repeat himself twice and was starting to become irritated. "You're reminding me of when Red was takin captive"

"Logan's right Scott, calm yourself down" Xavier added. "You were young at the time and already knowing that you would never see your parents again allowed you to believe your brother had shared their fate"

Scott complied with their demands and tried to calm himself down. He still remembered that night as if it were yesterday. Ten years ago, the plane his whole family were on lost both engines mid flight. Upon realising that there were only two parachutes, the parents made the ultimate sacrifice and gave them to their children.

Scott, realising what was about to happen to his parents, hesitated in opening his parachute as he watched the plane burst into flames, taking his parents with it, resulting in him being pulled away from his younger brother and colliding with the ground more forcefully than required. When he came to, he was in a hospital bed alone with no sign of his brother.

"Better get your head out sorted pronto Shades" Logan called over his shoulder. "Cause we're here"

Looking over Logan's shoulder, Scott saw the beach where Cerebro had registered Alex's last location.

"You see anything?" Scott asked hopefully as Logan landed the X-jet.

"Nope" Came the burly mutant's blunt reply. "And the tides comin in, which means if we don't find the kid in an hour we're swimming home"

"Take a closer look around" Xavier suggested hiding the fact that he sensed something sinister afoot.

Taking the Professor's suggestion, Scott and Logan went down the entry ramp and onto the beach. After several minutes of walking around, they came across an abandoned surfboard laying out on the sand but no surfer in sight.

"Do you think it's his?" Scott asked this time sounding slightly worried that he was too late.

"Maybe" Logan replied as he studied a set of footprints that led away from the board then abruptly stopped roughly ten feet from the nearest cliff wall. "Looks like company dropped in on him, _literally_"

"Should I be asking who, or how?" Scott asked knowing full well that the older mutant was an expert hunter tracker.

"_Magneto_"

"Isn't he the guy who nearly got torn a new one by Stefan several days ago?" Scott asked clearly remembering how easily Stefan overcame the masked man.

"Believe me when I say, if that guy hadn't underestimated Copycat, he wouldn't have required us rescuing him" Logan said as he scanned the cliffs.

Meanwhile, in the X-jet, the Professor was searching for the very same person Scott and Logan were currently discussing.

_~I know you're here Magneto~_ He mentally called out. _~Show yourself~_

As if obeying his command, the X-jet shuddered violently about before suddenly floating upward into the air. Quickly overcoming the surprise of what was happening; Logan ran after the runaway jet and barely managed to grab hold of the landing gear wheels before it could get further away.

Scott remained rooted to where he was standing, unable to believe what was happening before his eyes. Had he not been so stunned, he would have noticed someone slowly walk up to him; someone who he had not seen for ten years.

*/#\*

"Anyone home?" Ororo asked as she stepped into the foyer of the mansion.

The entire mansion was quiet and considering how many of its residents were still in their teens, it was definitely not right. It was if there was nobody about. All apart from one pale brown alley cat that bounded up towards the visitor.

"Meow"

"Not the Kitty I was looking for, but at least someone came to welcome me" Ororo mused as she leaned down to stroke the stray cat before walking further into the mansion. She stopped short when she saw the shadow of the cat change its shape. "Well, look what the cat dragged in"

Mystique smirked as she flew towards Ororo in a flying kick only to fly away when the weather witch literally blew her away.

*/#\*

Using his claws to remain attached to the X-jet, Logan slowly made his way towards the side entrance. The next moment he felt his own body betray him when his claws suddenly sheathed themselves against his will causing him to freefall a good thirty feet onto the island the X-jet was _coincidently_ passing over.

"Definitely Magneto" Logan growled as he picked himself up knowing that the Metal manipulator was the only person he knew who could control his adamantium skeleton like a puppet. "But, has he always been _this _powerful?"

"I'd worry more about myself if I were you" Said a familiar voice from behind him.

"Funny" Logan growled as he unsheathed his claws and turned to face Sabertooth. "I was about to tell you the same thing"

*/#\*

"Can yahs feel thaht ocean breeze?" Rogue asked as she allowed the wind to soothe her boiling skin. "Ah tell yahs, if it weren't fer mah powers, ah'd be tanning on thah crowded beaches in no tahme"

"Consider yourself lucky" Kurt argued playfully as he turned off his inducer revealing to all that it was just his fur that had been hidden under the hologram. "having a permanent fur coat during summer is _not_ pleasant"

The four teens laughed in good spirits before a sudden tremor caused them to tense up.

"I don't recall hearing about earthquakes in ze veazer report zis morning" Kurt noted trying to stay optimistic as he skilfully manoeuvred the X-van through a sudden outcrop of rock spikes coming out of the ground in front of them.

"That's ony because Lance and his goons have a tendency to show up when they're _not_ wanted" Kitty said as she pointed behind them to a jeep she had no problem recognising which contained Avalanche, Quicksilver and Toad.

Up ahead, Blob stood on the road in front of the oncoming vehicles. When Avalanche veered the X-van into a collision with the towering teen, Blob braced himself for the inevitable crash. Fortunately, Kurt managed to point the X-van towards the beach and activated the booster shooting the X-van onto the sand where it skidded to a halt.

"Anyone wanna bet they just wanna game of four-on-four volleyball?" Evan asked as he made spikes appear all over his body.

"Ah wouldn't get mah hopes up if ah were you" Rogue countered as the Brotherhood closed in on them.

Avalanche sneered knowing that they had caught the X-twerps off guard. "Let's rumble"

*/#\*

Reappearing out of a cloud of sulphur like a silver shooting star, Stefan managed to land his bike on its wheels before he skidded to a stop. Getting off, he walked towards the person who had just tried to send both him and his bike flying causing him to activate his Evil-eye in order to prevent himself from kissing the concrete at one hundred miles an hour.

"I must have dented your helmet harder than I thought if you've forgotten what happened last time we got together _Chrome-dome_!" He said as he pulled off his helmet and sent it bouncing off the ground to land beside his bike. "Fortunately, I've still got fourteen and a half minutes to make you remember"

The purple and red clad figure said nothing. Instead he gestured with his hand, beckoning Stefan closer.

"Nice invite, I accept!" Stefan yelled before flying towards Magneto via telekinesis with his right hand pulled back.

_**-*/~#~\*-**_

_Five cliff hangers in one chapter. You __**MUST**__ hate me now._

_Review if possible & 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out_


	18. The New Order

_Disclaimers on chapter 1 & this chapter are dedicated to _**never3kno **_for being my 100__th__ reviewer_.

**The New Order**

Charles Xavier had no choice but to brace himself and pray that he survives the flight the X-jet was giving him towards Magneto's base of operations. He had no idea where his old friend was taking him but judging by the winter landscapes and the aurora borealis, he was somewhere in the northern hemisphere quite possibly close to the north pole by his estimates.

All of a sudden, the X-jet suddenly pulled its nose higher into the sky allowing its passenger to gaze at a large rock the size of a meteor floating in the air. Xavier speculated that the only reason it remained in place was due to the large deposits of iron ore among other metals that allowed Magneto, the master of metal, to keep it there.

"What is this place?" Xavier asked out loud in equal measures of shock and awe.

As the X-jet began its decent, a lone figure walked out onto a walkway high above the landing strip. Clad in his usual red and purple attire, Magneto watched as his old friend and nemesis arrived. "Welcome Charles, to sanctuary. _Asteroid M_" He greeted when he heard the sound of the motorised wheelchair coming from behind him.

"What is all of this about?" Xavier demanded actually sounding angry about what Magneto was doing.

*/#\*

_A rebirth_

Storm barely had time to regain the air she had lost when she was flung into the wall of the mansions foyer before having to jump out of the way as Mystique's foot went crashing through the wall where her head had been mere seconds ago.

_Your X-men face a trial by fire, as do my own recruits_

As Mystique pulled her foot free from the wall, Storm had enough time to cook up a lethal tornado that sucked up Mystique and anything else not bolted to the floor like a massive vacuum. Once the tornado gain enough strength, Storm immediately cancelled it allowing everything to crash to the ground in a sizeable pile; with Mystique situated somewhere in the middle of it if not at the bottom.

_Mutant pitted against mutant. One shall lose; one shall win_

Snake-eyes darted through the rain of cars, lampposts and signs that Magneto was sending down at him using Quicksilver's power. When one vehicle speared the ground before him, Snake-eyes used it as a ramp to launch himself towards his opponent. Morphing his hands and lower arms into a pair of lethal claw-gauntlets then channelling Juggernaut's power, Snake-eyes batted away or tore through the metal onslaught as he made his way closer to Magneto before unleashing an optics blast that all but took off the man's head.

_Those who emerge victorious shall take their place here on asteroid M_

The smirk left Snake-eyes face as he watched the remains of Magneto's head turn into liquid silver before pulling itself back together and returning to how it looked before it was blasted. The shock caught him off guard long enough for the Magneto clone to strike him with another vehicle and would have been concrete pizza had he not brought Shadowcat's power into the fray in the nick of time.

_Once gathered here in a place of solitude, they can realise their full potential_

Wolverine grunted as he took the brunt of the collision into the ground. Rolling to the side to avoid Sabertooth stomping on him, he quickly got up and swung his claws at the blonde behemoth's exposed flanks before being swept away by the enraged beast.

_Safe from those who might mistreat us_

*/#\*

"Magnus don't do this" Xavier urged the metal manipulator. "We can introduce ourselves to mankind as friends_ not_ enemies"

Magneto turned to face his old friend. They had had this conversation many a time before. It was because of their different goals, be it peacefully coexisting or dominant ruler respectively, that the two of them had separated and went their own paths.

"You are an idealist Charles, I am a realist" Magneto scoffed. "It's a dark future ahead of us, and we must be prepared"

Xavier could not help but sigh deeply under his breath. He and Magnus had known each other for a long time and during it he had discovered that Magnus had had the misfortune of living in Poland during its capture by Germany. Even if he was not a mutant at the time, the experience obviously planted the seeds of hatred that had now flourished and blinded him to the point where he saw himself as the very person who commanded the troops that took over his homeland many years ago.

He was brought out of his musings when he suddenly felt his wheelchair being controlled to follow his friends retreating form.

"The gathering will soon be complete, only the battle between Wolverine and Sabertooth is yet to be decided" Magneto declared as the two of them continued into the centre of the asteroid. "A storm is coming from mankind Charles and resolve must be iron clad"

Confused, Xavier sent out a mental probe to his students and was surprised when he discovered that Ororo Scott, Jean and Kurt were already within the asteroid as well as several members of the Brotherhood. How did Magneto know this let alone take the victors to a place that should normally be too big a feat for him to hold up?

"Side with me not against me" Magneto implored to the mind specialist.

"Your invitation begs the question; what happens to those who don't come willingly?" Xavier countered.

Magneto almost smirked as if knowing beforehand that that was going to be the Professor's reply. "If necessary, some things must be force fed"

With a flick of his wrist, a door opened before them allowing the Professor to see Jean and Ororo in some sort of stasis capsule. But where were the other two?

"You have not saved them Magnus, you've abducted them" The Professor snapped at his friend only to find his anger leave him as three more people entered the room.

Two of them were clad in navy jeans a white shirt under a dark brown leather jacket whilst the other was clad in tight fight jeans and long sleeve shirt all in black and sporting three rapiers for his hands and prehensile tail to wield. If Xavier was surprised to see Scott and his brother seemingly defective to the other side it paled in the comparison of the dark look that was firmly masking Kurt's face.

*/Shortly beforehand\*

_Scott remained rooted to where he was standing, unable to believe what was happening before his eyes. Had he not been so stunned, he would have noticed someone slowly walk up to him; someone who he had not seen for ten years._

As if suddenly sensing someone behind him, Scott turned and nearly collapsed to his knees at who he was seeing.

"Alex?" Scott asked quietly almost disbelievingly as if his mind was playing tricks on him. "Is it really you?"

Alex appeared to be thinking the same thing before a grin that could probably rival Kurt's appeared on his face as he began to run towards his big brother who had managed to regain control of his limbs just in time to embrace his brother in his arms as he collided with him.

"Aw man bro, it's like you came back from the dead!" Alex laughed as he attempted to crush his older brother in a death grip.

"Likewise" Scott replied as he held onto his little brother as if he would disappear the moment he let go before pushing him to arms length to see the changes he had gone through since they had last seen each other. "Look at you, what happened to that scrawny kid I used to pick on"

Alex looked surprised as if he just remembered something and abruptly slugged Scott in the shoulder. "That's for making me wait ten years to do that"

Scott laughed it off and resisted the urge to put Alex in a head lock as the two of them calmed down somewhat and opted for teasing him instead. "And you _still_ hit like a girl"

"Believe me bro, there's more to this punch than you know" Alex stated proudly resisting the urge to show him exactly what his _punch_ could do. "But still, when Magneto said you would show-"

"Whoa, hold on there. Magneto?" Scott interrupted upon hearing the man's name."That guy just kidnapped my Professor _and_ screwed up the lives of two of my friends" He could still remember the first time he had heard it.

He had been beside the pool trying to stop Kurt and Evan suggesting that he ask Jean out when the Professor suddenly sent out a message to the team asking them to suit up and head for the garage Stefan was supposed to be picking his bike up from. When they arrived they were just in time to see the man nearly get torn a new one by an enraged Stefan had he not shot the spear out of the teen's hand and Rogue knocked him out. He also remembered Logan's warning about how dangerous Magneto really is before the X-jet suddenly flew off of its own accord with Logan clinging to the rear landing gear.

"Nah, you've got it all wrong" Alex explained. "he just wants to show the man something and I'm sure he didn't mean whatever he did to your friends"

'_Try telling Stefan and Kurt that'_ Scott thought to himself as his brother pulled his arm as he tried to show him something.

"He wants to show all of us" Alex said as if talking about Magneto being some sort of holy man.

"All of us?" Scott echoed sounding confused.

"All us mutants" Came the surfer's answer making his hand glow red to prove his point. "Freaked me out until Magneto explained it all to me. And he told me you're one too"

Scott just listened as Alex explained how he first came to discovering his powers and how Magneto had helped him as they approached a huge metal sphere that could easily fit both of them inside it.

"Magneto asked me to join his team, but I said I would only go if you came with me" Alex explained whilst Scott just stared at the sphere which suddenly opened of its own accord.

"That thing there, will take us to Magneto?" Scott asked suspiciously whilst pointing at the object in question.

"Yeah, I know it seems weird but it's also exciting. C'mon bro, please?" Alex asked as if it were nothing more than the latest rollercoaster to be installed at the amusement park.

Scott could not help but shake his head. This whole thing had a bad vibe to it, but he gave in under his brother's persistence and made a mental note to ask Stefan how he can resist Kurt's pleas and puppy dog eyes.

"All right, but only to keep an eye on you and to find Professor X" He conceded as he joined his brother inside the sphere.

No sooner had he entered, the sphere closed up and Scott could fell it lifting off the ground before taking the two of them to wherever Magneto and the Professor were.

*/#\*

_Avalanche sneered knowing that they had caught the X-twerps off guard. "Let's rumble"_

He emphasized his point by creating a tremor in the sand under the X-Teens feet making three of them sink below the surface whilst the fourth managed to evade by teleporting away and reappearing in front of Avalanche's face and drop kicked him causing him to lose his concentration.

"I'm gonna make you regret that big time, Demon" He glared at Nightcrawler who did not even flinch at the look.

"Can't you come up vith something more original? Demon is getting rather old" Nightcrawler asked before teleporting away before Toad flew through where he was seconds ago.

"Hey, hold still yah rabid plush toy so I can slug yah!" He yelled at Nightcrawler who was now crouched like a gargoyle atop the X-van.

"As you Americans say; Neener, neener nee~ner!" Nightcrawler jeered.

Toad was about to retaliate when he was suddenly tackled by Rogue when she, Spyke and Shadowcat finally resurfaced thanks to Shadowcat phasing the three of them out of the sand trap Avalanche trapped them in. Unfortunately, the strain of phasing two others and herself took a lot of Shadowcat's strength so she could only watch as Quicksilver shot passed taking Spyke with him and Blob, for lack of a better word, belly flopping her.

Before Blob could land, Nightcrawler had disengaged his fight with Avalanche and teleported onto the falling heavyweight and teleported him just far enough so that he crash landed in front of Quicksilver. Due to the speed he was going, Quicksilver was unable to stop and went ricocheting off of Blob into Avalanche causing the earth tumbler to redirect his attack that was meant to be for Rogue into Toad knocking him out for the count.

"Vow, maybe I should start playing dominoes" Nightcrawler mused as he jumped lightly off of Blob onto the beach yet landed in a heap because of teleporting something that was extremely overweight. "Perhaps after I do some serious veight training" He added as he shakily got to his feet again and surveyed the rest of the battle.

Shadowcat had yet to move from where she was sitting but was able to give him a small smile in thanks, Spyke was neck deep in sand and was struggling to free himself and Rogue had somehow managed to get stuck to the X-van by Toad's slime before he got knocked out by the misaimed attack by Avalanche.

Before he could start helping his teammates free themselves of their impromptu prisons, Nightcrawler suddenly heard the sound of something- correction several things- coming towards them from the sky. He barely had time to look up before four giant silver spheres slammed into the sand, one just shy of landing on his tail, amongst them. With a hiss of air each sphere opened up revealing hollow innards before the one closest to Nightcrawler sprouted steel tentacles and pulled him inside before disappearing.

*/#\*

Magneto waited patiently in the greeting room where he would meet the combatants who were deemed worthy to fight under his banner as the first of the metal spheres landed softly before him. With a small wave of his hand, the sphere split in two allowing him to see an empty shell.

"If you vanted to meet me, you could have just called und asked" Kurt's voice sounded from behind him.

"Your adoptive brother said the same thing when we first met" Magneto mused as he turned to face the blue elf who was glaring daggers at him.

"Ja, before tearing you a new von for vhat you did to me" Kurt countered gesturing to himself.

Magneto closed his eyes for a moment, remembering that the furry demon was key to what he had planned to get back at the annoying worm who dared to be better at him.

"Ah, but how do you know that that was why he attacked me? He might've just lashed out before I could explain what _really_ happened"

Kurt was thrown off. Thoughts of what the man was talking about had not only confused him but got him curious as well.

"By all means, _great von_" He began putting as much sarcasm as possible into the last two words. "Enlighten me"

Magneto allowed a feral smirk to appear before schooling his face and begun spinning his web. "Whilst it is true that I used you in an experiment, what had happened was merely an unfortunate accident. Before I could attempt to reverse the process, your mother, obviously blinded by the grief at what had happened, took you and fled. Had she still had some sensibility in her, you would have been able to have a normal childhood"

Kurt could not help but snort. "If vhat you did to me vas an accident, then my pranks vere mere coincidences"

'_Let's see how you cope with this, you pathetic runt'_ Magneto thought to himself before playing his next card. "Do you know the true reason why Xavier brought you to America?"

"Do you really vant me to answer that?" Kurt asked in return.

"You were only brought to America so that Charles could have your brother on his team of pathetic individuals he calls the X-men"

"Hey, that 'team of pathetic individuals' also has me. Plus, I'm rather attached to a few of them" Kurt growled.

"That is what you were meant to believe" Magneto explained almost smiling when he saw the cracks begin to appear in the hell spawn's armour. "Charles has to mentally block their fear of you so that you would feel welcomed and attempt to make your own path and allow your brother to finally be free of you"

"You're lying!" Kurt yelled at the man. "They like me for _who _I am. Und Kitty..."

"Ah yes, the girl who is rarely seen without you" Magneto mused. "Have you ever wondered why she has a roommate whilst everyone else has their own room?"

"Nien" Kurt whispered shaking his head in disbelief at what the man was implying.

"I'm afraid so" Magneto answered the unasked question although secretly he was enjoying the look of pain he had spread through the elf. "Charles has to wipe her memory of all the times she has been with you at least once a week just to make sure she stays your _friend_"

"_Geschaft_!" Kurt yelled anger tinting his voice. "She is not like that! Und vhat about my brother? He's looked after me for as long as I can remember und not vonce has he ever said he hated me!"

"He may not have said or shown anything about his hatred for you publicly, but whenever you're not around he curses your existence. Because you rarely left his side when you were younger, he could not enjoy his own childhood or plan his future because he always had to take care of you"

Kurt could not take anymore and collapsed to his knees as Magneto's words flowed through him. The lies and deception slowly rooted themselves inside him before quickly into anger at his own foolishness for believing that he could ever have had a normal life. Magneto watched with a satisfied look as he saw dark aura slowly enshroud Kurt. Providing that his puppet won its fight against Stefan, he was one step closer to ridding himself of the upstart that dared to challenge his rule.

"Join me Kurt" Magneto offered. "Let me grant you sanctuary, and I shall give you the power to take out all who have ever hated and feared you including your brother"

Magneto nearly smiled when the elf before him looked up and revealed a whole different Kurt Wagner, one that would aid him in the battles ahead.

*/#\*

Stefan cursed out loud as he tried to get himself into a sitting position only to collapse to the ground before reaching the halfway mark. Seeing no other choice, he activated his second use of his Evil-eye and set it to work on healing his battered body as he watched the Magneto clone morph into a metal ball and jet off to wherever its master resided.

"Beaten by a metal mannequin, how embarrassing" He muttered as he went over the fight in his head.

The moment he realised that he was fighting a puppet threw him completely off his game plan and resulted in him using up the first Evil-eye without realising before being swatted like a fly into one of the many wrecked vehicles that littered the ground amongst the lampposts and signs sticking haphazardly out of the ground.

"I don't know if that's better or worse than being given one's second defeat" he muttered as he finally managed to pick himself up.

Keeping his second use active, Stefan used his own copy of Magneto's power and used it to locate the mannequin. He could barely track it but managed to get a rough heading on where it was heading before using the Professor's power as a sort of astral vision to try and find the real Magneto's location only to accidently deactivate the Evil-eye in shock when he saw the giant asteroid floating in the sky.

"I'm beginning to wonder if my win against him was dumb luck" He muttered as he headed over to his bike which had miraculously survived the fight. Roaring to life, Stefan tore down the road towards the mansion a bad feeling slowly digging its way into his being.

*/#\*

"Give up and I'll make this quick, wind rider" Mystique suggested to Storm as the two women eyed one another carefully. "I shouldn't even have to prove myself to him"

Whilst that last part was true, Mystique also had another reason for wanting to win. A reason that included the well being of her son. Getting impatient, Mystique charged forward only to be enshrouded in a thick fog Storm had quickly cooked up.

"I don't know why or care why you're here" Storm's voice echoed throughout the fog making it undeterminable where she was. "You're attacking mein my home and I'm not going to let you get away with it"

Catching a movement out of the corner of her eye, Mystique was too late to defend herself from the sucker punch Storm landed effectively taking her out of the fight.

As Storm made the mist vanish and began contemplating what Mystique was talking about, a large metal sphere suddenly crashed through the roof and landed in the middle of the foyer. Storm barely had time to let out a gasp before the sphere opened up and pulled her in with steel tentacles before flying off again leaving a beaten and distraught Mystique.

*/#\*

"Magnus..." Xavier began but was unable to form a proper sentence over the shock he was seeing.

Standing behind Magneto was Avalanche, Blob and Quicksilver from the Brotherhood standing alongside an enraged Kurt and a slightly confused Scott and his younger brother Alex.

"As you can see Charles" Magnus said to his stunned friend. "For a new tomorrow, requires a new order"

_-*/#\*-_

_Questions answered yet I still leave you hanging...for now anyway. _

_Let me know if what Kurt's saying sounds more like him in the show (it helps getting other peoples opinions now & then)_

_Oh, & __**Sonar**__? This is a place that is considered a home of multi-universes that show the what-ifs, the what-might've-beens etc for many a category where they can be near canon or the farthest from it depending on the author's idea (providing that they disclaim that their fic ain't the real deal obviously). _

_Just in case you did not know_

_Review if possible & 'til next time_

_Watch this space & peace out!_


	19. Advanced Evolution

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

**Advanced Evolution**

Toad was in a tough spot. He was currently buried up to his neck in sand with a very angry Kitty Pryde pressing her foot down on top of his head phasing him deeper into the sand.

"I'm telling ya's, I don't know!" Toad pleaded not wanting to literally take a dirt nap. "All I knew was that Magneto was setting up some kind of tournament to separate the winners from the losers and take the winners somewhere else!"

"How do I know you're not lying?" Kitty grilled him as she phased him further down so just his head was above ground until Rogue grabbed her shoulder and pulled her away from the terrified mutant.

"Cool yer britches girl" She said to the teen. "Burying thah slahme bahll ain't gonna do any good"

"She's right Kit" Evan piped in. "Best we can do now, is head back to the mansion an tell Auntie O 'n the Professor"

Kitty sighed heavily before giving in to her friends' advice. Bending over, she grabbed Toad by the hair and phased him so that he was stuck in the sand from the ankles down before walking back to the X-van where Rogue had jumped into the driver's seat and turned on the engine. _'Please be safe, Kurt'_

-*/#\*-

"Scott, Kurt, I-I don't understand" Xavier began still trying to overcome the shock that two of his X-men, his children, had defected over to Magneto.

"Professor, wait. We're just here to listen, that's all" Scott explained he had yet to notice Jean and Ororo in the stasis pods beside him.

"What about them?" Xavier asked causing Scott to nearly stumble in disbelief before rounding on Magneto.

"What is this!" He asked forgetting about his brother as he was intent on skipping the cue Stefan made for tearing Magneto a new one.

"Merely a precaution" Magneto calmly answered. "Not everyone has the maturity to accept the change, as you do"

"Pointless" Kurt muttered darkly. "Their faith in the cripple's beliefs' so great it'd be easier to just kill them"

"Let them go!" Scott demanded Magneto apparently ignoring Kurt for the time being.

"In due time, I will" Magneto said as he brushed Lance to the side when the teen stepped between him and Scott hoping for an excuse to beat him up. "For now, they shall remain where they are. I assure you, they are perfectly safe"

Scott just glared at the man. He could now understand why he was, supposedly, the Professor's enemy; the man was full of himself, believing to be the one who could bring about the greater good and all that prophetic mumbo-jumbo.

_~Are they, Scott? Are any of us safe? ~_ He heard the Professor ask telepathically. _~I know this man well, his motives cannot be trusted~_

Xavier's talk was suddenly interrupted by Magneto. Magneto had noticed Scott subconsciously look towards the Professor making him realise what the old fool was trying to do. With a quick wave of his hand, Magneto banished Xavier into one of the empty stasis pods and sealed it watching in grim satisfaction as his old friend succumbed to the decompression and unable to interfere in his quest.

"Do that, and he'll not survive the decompression" He warned Scott who was about to remove his shades and blast free the Professor.

"The odds aren't that good for you either!" Scott replied as he turned his gaze onto Magneto sorely tempted to just shoot him there and then regardless of the consequences.

"Hey, Scott come on man" Alex said as he stood between the two whilst trying to calm his brother. "Magneto's just being careful; he'll let the professor guy go once he's cooled off"

Scott was growling as he looked over his dilemma. On one hand there was the Professor and his friends trapped in stasis confinement, the other his brother who he had believed dead with his parents ten years ago. It was a classical catch twenty-two.

"C'mon bro, holster that thing" Alex pleaded before rubbing his burning hands. "I need Magneto's help, and he's not a bad guy, he just wants to help all of us"

Scott growled but complied. For all he knew, this was the only chance to earn his brother's forgiveness for not trying to find him. "This doesn't mean I like it"

"But your brother is right, Scott" Magneto explained. "I'm not yours, or even Charles' enemy. And soon you will know the truth"

From where he was standing, Kurt clicked his rapier back into its sheath. He had been hoping that the traitor would go against Magneto's warning so that he could shove his blade through his heart. Instead he would have to wait for the next opportunity.

-*/#\*-

Logan waited until he could no longer hear the sound of whatever was taking Sabertooth away before opening his eyes and standing up. He had been holding his own against his nemesis until he heard Charles tell him to lose the fight and say something about Magneto before being mysteriously cut off.

Despite the fact that he hated losing, Logan allowed himself to be thrown off the cliff face he was beside and played dead- or rather unconsciousness seeing as Sabertooth knew of his healing ability- until Sabertooth left the vicinity. Getting up, Logan spotted a chopper nearby which was probably Sabertooth's mode of transport to the island. Now it was going to be his to get back to the mansion.

-*/#\*-

"Whaht in tahrnation?"

Rogue gazed around the wreckage of the main foyer where Storm and Mystique had had their battle not even an hour ago. The place looked like a bomb had struck it or to be more accurate a typhoon.

"Man, I hope Auntie O didn't do this cuz she discovered that we took off" Evan hoped. He had seen his aunt mad before and was thankful that it was at his dad for making mom cry that one time.

"Like that would ever happen" Kitty muttered as she stepped inside. "Storm? Are you there?"

"She's out" Replied a female voice. "Can I take a message?"

"You" Kitty growled upon seeing Mystique walk out of the shadows towards them.

"Ha-ha, hey if you're still here then that makes you a-" Before Toad could finish his sentence Mystique had planted her boot in his face.

"Unless you want me to cut off that tongue of yours inch by inch..." Mystique left her sentence hanging seeing that the boy before her had clearly got the message and turned to face the X-teens and noticing one of them missing. "Is my son parking the van?"

"Your son just got whisked away in a giant marble to god knows where!" Kitty replied as she in front of Mystique giving the woman her own version of the Wolverine glared. "Now where is he!"

'_Feisty little girl this one'_ Mystique mused as she masked her surprise at being interrogated by a pintsized teenager. She could not help but wonder if her son knew that he had picked a fireball and wished him luck in the long run.

"He'll probably be with Magneto now, along with his brother no doubt" She told her coolly.

"Hate to break it to you, but I wasn't invited"

Everyone turned towards the door where Stefan had just walked in. The look in his eyes clearly said someone was going to get hurt.

"No" Mystique gasped looking as if all hope was lost. She had hoped that, if she did not win no matter how insane it sounded, that Stefan would have won his battle. "If neither of us is there, then Magneto will have no trouble converting him"

"Then why aren't you jumping for joy that you and your son are on the same side?" Kitty asked not noticing Stefan suddenly curse.

"Because it won't be by his own choice" Mystique explained. "Magneto is going to use his fear against him"

"Mahnd bringing us up to speed on what yer bahbbling about?" Rogue asked the shape shifter.

"You kids wouldn't understand, having had normal childhoods" Mystique began. "But for mutants like me and Kurt who look different we are hounded by those who think we are the spawn of Satan. And even if we are accepted, it is too much to believe in case we are suddenly used as scapegoats or decoys, left to rot and die whilst everyone else gets away"

"Puh-lease" Kitty scoffed. "Kurt doesn't harbour any doubts or fears about us abandoning him. Me and Stefan will and have made sure of that"

"Even in the black of night, shadows can be cast" Stefan stated as he shook his head. "If there's one thing Kurt's good at, it's hiding his pain and fear of being abandoned. And I've got a bad feeling Chrome-dome's gonna twist the words so that you and me become Kurt's worst enemies"

"You're kidding, right?" Kitty asked or rather pleaded. Things between the two of them were going so well that by next month she was hoping that they would actually get together. Now it seemed like a joke, one that she did not find funny.

"Yeah, I mean, K-man's the epiphany of carefree" Evan chipped in.

"Its epi_tome_!" Rogue corrected.

"Regardless of what my son is to you" Mystique interrupted. "I'm going to pay Magneto a little visit. No one throws me away like trash and turns my son into something he doesn't want and gets away with it. You can join me if you want, but you'll be under my command"

"Then find your own ride" Logan told the woman as he walked through the remains of the front door. He barely cast a glance at Mystique and Toad as he walked past them towards the entrance to the underground base of the X-men. "X-men, suit up. We've got some comrades to retrieve"

As one Evan, Kitty, Rogue and Stefan followed their survival instructor. After several moments, Mystique and Toad followed them knowing that they would have a better chance fighting with them than by their selves.

"What's left in your arsenal, Copy-cat?" Logan asked Stefan as they left the locker room and headed to a different hanger that housed their latest mode of transport.

"One use left" Stefan answered. "I used up the second trying to pinpoint where chrome dome's living, but I accidently deactivated it when I saw his abode"

"What did you see?" Evan asked curiously.

"A massive lump of rock floating several miles _above _the Arctic Circle"

"If I wasn't a mutant, and didn't have a blue and fuzzy best friend, I'd be _way_ freaked out about that" Kitty stated as she fell into step beside Stefan. _'Instead, I'm worried about having to _fight_ my blue and fuzzy best friend'_

When the lights of the hanger went on, the X-men stared in awe at the sleek black state of the art helicopter that was situated in the hangars centre.

"Say hello to the XM-Velocity" Logan said as he walked towards it. "Equipped with a high performance after-burner and built without an ounce of metal"

"We're gonna fly in something made out of cheap plastic?" Toad exclaimed as he stared at the chopper. "That thing better have a parachute and airsick bags with my name on them"

"If he doesn't shut his trahp, ah'm gonna do it for him" Rogue grumbled. "With mah three inch high plahtform boots"

Thankfully, Rogue did not have to go through with her threat. The moment the Velocity took off, the amount of G-force it made as it shot north towards Asteroid M forced Toad and the X-teens to keep their mouths closed for fear of accidentally biting their own tongues.

-*/#\*-

"I built this right into the asteroid" Magneto stated proudly as he showed his chosen the fruits of his labours. "This is the next step in mutant evolution"

Scott stared at the giant vault like door embedded into the side of the rock surface. He was half expecting Kurt to say something about becoming bankers yet the elf stayed quiet, his face etched in a permanent scowl. Alex meanwhile was hoping that whatever it was helped rid him of the pain he kept feeling in his joints.

"This machine enhances mutant abilities with the use of the mystical crystal known as _Cytorak_" Magneto explained holding up a decent sized piece of crystal that was a burnt sienna colour. "These gems emit a distinct radiation that can trigger dormant mutant genes and when properly focused, combined with my brilliance, can fully unlock a mutant's power granting them full access to and control of their abilities"

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Scott inquired actually getting his hopes up in light of the man's machine allowing him to see without his shades.

"I have already tried it on myself" Magneto answered as he showed Scott his own body explaining why it looks so in shape for a man his age. "As well as unlocking our powers, it also improves your physical appearance"

He neglected to tell the pair of them that it erased all emotions from one's body. Using his intellect, Magneto had built into the machine a small device that was similar to Xavier's powers that blocked out all emotions and allowed them to see clearly. At least his own views on humanity anyway. Once he had put through Charles' golden boy, Magneto then planned to show him to his old friend and the other victors that were currently imprisoned. Whether by their own choice or not, he would convert them and use them as he saw fit.

"Go through the transformation, and I will release your friends" Magneto bargained opening the vault door leading into a room filled with pinkish light. "We shall show them what I'm offering with their own eyes"

When the two brothers remained unmoving, Magneto saw that he would have to give them a demonstration before he could finally have them in his clutches. Nodding his head to Sabertooth, the blonde behemoth stepped into the pink light as the vault door closed behind him. Barely half a minute later, the vault door opened revealing a more buffed and ferocious Sabertooth to the brothers.

"As you can see, there is nothing to be hesitant about" Magneto said as he gestured for them to experience it for themselves.

Scott was still unsure. Had had lived at the mansion with the Professor the longest out of all the teens and had learned more from the man himself before he even met Jean. One of the things he gained was a sixth sense that warned him when something was wrong and right now it was buzzing so loud he felt like he actually had a bee in his bonnet as the saying went. Unfortunately, the pleading look Alex was giving him indicated that his brother wanted to do this but only if he was by his side. Throwing caution to the wind, Scott gave Alex's shoulder an encouraging squeeze before walking towards the open entrance to the evolution enhancer.

Unbeknownst to him, the moment Scott was in front of him Magneto made a gesture at the stasis capsules that housed the nuclear eyed teen's friends and mentors rousing them from their slumbering states. The moment Jean saw where Scott was going, she banged her fists against the side of her prison whilst yelling his name not knowing that the capsule was sound proof. The Professor was barely able to mentally warn Scott about what the machine really did before the vault door closed.

"Too late Charles" Said Magneto as he stared at his old friend. "He's _mine_ now"

On the other side of the vault door, Scott attempted to open it by shoving hard only to discover it would not budge an inch. He was just raising his hand to his shades intending to blast down the door and make Magneto spill what was really going on before he was encompassed in a sphere of pink light. For a moment, he felt a feeling of dread and fear not knowing what was going to happen to his friends, mentors and Jean. Then, he felt...nothing.

_-*/#\*-_

_What's gonna happen?_

_Be patient until the next chapter & you'll find out_

_Watch this space & peace out!_


	20. Coming to Boil

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

_Rejoice! The long awaited climax of the Cauldron Arc is now at hand!_

**-*~#~*-**

In their current glass prisons, Jean, Ororo and Xavier watch as the door to Magneto's enhancer opened spilling a bright pink light outwards and allowing them to see the silhouettes of two well built teens that they assumed were Scott and Alex Summers. When the light receded they immediately noticed the changes in them.

Both of them now had physiques similar to Magneto and whilst they still had their own hair styles the colour was now pure white. The other most notable change was their facial expressions; they looked confident and made them look like they were better than everyone else.

"The pain's finally gone" Alex noted in relief as he flexed his wrist. "It actually worked"

Seeing how his brother's power problems seemed to be gone, Scott closed his eyes before removing his shades. Slowly opening his eyes again, he grinned when he realised that he too was cured. No, not just cured; better than he ever was when he was still with Xavier.

"Welcome to the new order, Cyclops and Havoc" Magneto greeted them as if they had just successfully completed a cult's initiation test.

Xavier lowered his head as if feeling he had failed in some way whilst the women stared in shock at what their former X-men had become. The Brotherhood members looked on in eagerness as they too wanted to go through the enhancer. Kurt on the other hand looked bored. He wanted to at least kill his brother for never truly caring for him before going through the machine and his supposed best friend too if possible.

"Aircraft!" Sabertooth called out as a klaxon suddenly started blaring.

"Really?" Magneto asked with obvious interest. "Let's see who it is"

With a gesture from one hand a panel on the roof of the asteroid opened allowing all to see a helicopter flying high above them and closing. Reaching out as if to grab it Magneto willed it to come down only to be surprised when it did not budge from its current course. Trying again failed just as before.

"_No metal_!" He concluded glaring at Xavier who just shrugged as if to say 'who knew?' causing him to huff in annoyance. "Defend us!" He ordered of Cyclops and Havoc who immediately walked off to greet the enemy.

-*#*-

"Are we there yet?" Toad cried through clenched teeth.

Wolverine would have been torn between taking a few loops around the asteroid before landing to upset Toad more and just landing when a monitor showed him a picture of two men with white hair down below. One of them was rather familiar.

"Scott?" He muttered unsure of what he was seeing only to believe it when the teen he thought was Scott suddenly had glowing red eyes whilst the others hands glowed red and what they were about to do. "Copy-cat, Half-pint! Get moving!"

Without missing a beat, Shadowcat phased out of her chair and grabbed hold of Snake-eyes' wrist before phasing the two of them through the bottom of the helicopter into a free fall. At the same moment, Cyclops and Havoc had fired energy blasts at them only to have the blasts distorted to strike the ground before them knocking them off their feet.

By the time they had got back on their feet again, the two X-men had disappeared into the ground before popping back up as if they had just bounced off a trampoline. Attempting to blast them again, the two brothers prepared to fire before Snake-eyes closed the distance between them and managed to grab an arm from each of them and put them in arm locks.

Snake-eyes just as quickly released them and jumped backwards when something appeared in front of him and tried to slash him with a pair of rapiers. Distorting the blow, he hopped back another three feet whilst Nightcrawler did the same so that they were equal distance from the X carved into the floor.

"Whilst the costume suits you, that look on your face doesn't, brother" Snake-eyes commented as his eyes darted from his little brother to the Summers brothers and back.

"Maybe if you had actually cared about me I wouldn't be doing this" Nightcrawler snarled before something jumped in front of him and slapped his face rather hard making him fall backwards onto the ground in surprise.

"What the hell are you doing, Kurt?" Shadowcat demanded as she glared at her friend. "This isn't like you at all!"

Nightcrawler glared at the girl before him as he stood back up and pointed one of his rapiers at her. "You've got some nerve saying that, _hundin_!"

Snake-eyes grimaced at what Nightcrawler called her and prayed that she did not ask what it meant after this was all over. A sudden orange glow in the corner of his eye forced him to bring his hand up to distort the impact elsewhere before swinging round in time to receive a right hook from Cyclops.

'_Verdamnt!'_ He mentally cursed as he noticed Nightcrawler beginning to attack Shadowcat before blocking a side kick from Cyclops and ducking another energy blast from Havoc simultaneously. _'Kurt's trying to kill the girl of his dreams, I'm stuck fighting a former teammate and his younger brother and who knows what's going on inside'_

Taking a firm hold of the leg Cyclops tried to strike him with, Snake-eyes swung the teen into his younger brother and sent both to the ground. Taking a quick glance back at where Shadowcat and Nightcrawler had last been before they had suddenly disappeared through the entrance, Snake-eyes focused on his opponents and hoped he could knock sense into them before it was too late.

-*#*-

No matter how good Wolverine was able to pilot the Velocity, the helicopter was too big for the hallway and so was sent grinding along instead with its propellers left embedded above the entrance behind them. The helicopter finally skidded to a stop in the main room where Magneto was _entertaining_ his guests.

"Knock knock" Mystique said as she stepped out of the downed aircraft along with Toad and the remaining X-men.

"Mystique" Magneto drawled as if speaking to an old accomplice. "You never could take no for an answer, especially where your son is involved"

That was the wrong thing to say to Mystique as the woman flew into a rage as she began attacking Magneto. As the rematch began in earnest, Wolverine headed over to where Xavier and the others were imprisoned and hacked through several pipes and cables connected to the system allowing them to escape.

"Where's the X-jet?" He asked from where he was on top of the system.

"Observation platform!" Xavier replied.

"Gather-" Whatever Wolverine wanted to say was interrupted by Sabertooth literally dropping in on him.

"Storm, Jean" Xavier called out to them once the dust settled. "Get to the X-jet and prepare it for launch"

"What about you?" Storm asked concerned.

"Magneto's used Kurt's fear to turn him against us, I need to stop him before he does something he will regret for the rest of his life" Xavier explained.

"What about Scott?" Jean asked.

The Professor sighed before answering the girl's question. "Scott has made his own choice, it's up to him whether he returns to us or not"

-*#*-

Havoc pointed his fist at Snake-eyes and let loose another energy blast only for said mutant to dodge it easily before turning to block another strike from Cyclops.

"Haven't you guys tried that routine already?" He asked before jumping back several feet to avoid another attack from Havoc then put both of his hands palm out in front of him when Cyclops unleashed an optics blast at him forcing him further along the corridor despite distorting it.

"Been working out since our last tussle?" He joked as he shook his hands to get the numbness out of them. _'Whatever Chrome-dome put them through it's really upped their powers. Can't say the same for the physique'_

"You're ruining everything!" Cyclops growled as he ran up to Snake-eyes and tried to punch him.

"I thought we were saving you" Snake-eyes replied as he blocked a one-two punch combo before ducking a roundhouse kick.

"This is our one chance to unite!" Cyclops elaborated as he continued his attack on Snake-eyes. "But you and the others just had to be different!"

"Well considering you now look and think like Magneto, I'll take being different any day" Snake-eyes retorted. "And have you realised the costs of this by any chance or are you just following blindly?"

"He's changed me!" Cyclops roared as he fired an optics blast that struck the ceiling as Snake-eyes forced his head upwards.

"Into someone you're not!" Snake-eyes yelled before slamming him into the ground. "Not really unity if you're all the same if you ask me"

"You don't understand!" Havoc said as he came at Snake-eyes and threw punch after punch at him which none of them struck. "We _are _the future!"

"Adolf Hitler said the same thing, look what _that_ did to the world!" Snake-eyes pointed out before grabbing the teens arms by the wrists and throwing him into Cyclops who was starting to get up. "If we wish to exist without fear of persecution, we shouldn't lower ourselves to the level of those who persecute us"

"Says you!" Havoc yelled as he fired an energy blast at him only to stare in disbelief at the hole that suddenly appeared in front of him when Snake-eyes distorted the attack again.

"My brother said that, and he was the one who received the worst of it out of the two of us" He added before turning his back on the two brothers and walked off in the direction of where Nightcrawler and Shadowcat were fighting. "By the way, when Xavier and Magneto went their separate ways, a line was drawn. And you two passed right over it"

-*#*-

It was all Shadowcat could do to avoid the two blades that continued to try and draw her blood without phasing. She knew she was playing a dangerous game but there was no other way she could think of to convince Nightcrawler that she was not her enemy.

"What's the matter _hundin_?" Nightcrawler taunted her as he pressed his assault. "Why aren't you attacking?"

"You're my best friend, why would I want to attack you" Shadowcat asked before tripping backwards over a cable inadvertently avoiding a swipe from a rapier that would have beheaded her otherwise.

"Enough of your lies!" Nightcrawler snarled as he stabbed the ground Shadowcat had just previously been lying with both rapiers. "You've never liked me to begin with!"

"Have you forgotten what we talked about that Saturday morning, about me confessing what I almost called you and felt terrible for it?" Shadowcat cried out before gasping when she felt herself hit a wall.

Seeing Nightcrawler speed towards her, rapier raised, Shadowcat closed her eyes and braced for the inevitable only to feel a sharp pain along the side of her neck as the blade drew blood as it sunk into the wall beside her. Slowly opening one eye, she saw Nightcrawler stare at her in shock and disbelief.

"You didn't phase or evade" he mumbled.

"You didn't try to kill me" She whispered back.

Quickly seeing her chance, Shadowcat ran at Nightcrawler and wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him as tight as she could.

"Come back to me Kurt" She cried into his shoulder. "I want my Fuzzy elf back!"

Kurt's arms hung limp by his side as Kitty continued to cry into his shoulder. His eyes widened when he looked back over all the times he had shared with her and asides that one morning when she confessed about their first meeting, there had been nothing to prove that she, his brother or anyone else at the mansion had ever hated or feared him.

"_Ich bin ein dummkopf_" He muttered as he hugged Kitty tightly. "_Ein verdamnt dummkopf_!"

"Kurt?" Kitty asked timidly when she felt his arms encircle her. "Is that you?"

"Ja" Kurt whispered pulling back so he could see her tearful face. "It's me"

It was unsure whether it was a spur of the moment or just the elation of having her best friend back, but Kitty suddenly kissed him square on the lips before attempting to squeeze the life out of him again. Despite the shock of having his first kiss, Kurt returned the hug as tears streamed down his face.

Unknown to the two of them, Magneto had witnessed their reunion and was infuriated that his plan had been undone by a mere slip of a girl. Picking up the discarded rapiers with his power, he sent them shooting towards the teens before Mystique attacked him again. Grabbing the first metallic object he could find with his power, he sent Mystique flying away from him and into his enhancer.

"No!" He cried out as he followed her inside. "Get out of there!"

-*#*-

"This-is-no-tahme-fer-a-mushy-moment,-you-two!" Said a familiar southern voice going what seemed to be in fast forward. Turning their heads in the direction of the voice, Kurt and Kitty's jaws dropped when they saw Rogue standing before them with two rapier handles sticking out her chest.

"Would-ya's-mahnd-helpin-me-pull-em-out? Ah-need-tah-keep-one-hand-on-mah-back-tah-keep-Snake-fer-brains-distortion-power-active!" She snapped clearly agitated by the experience.

"Why didn't you just grab them instead of becoming a pincushion?" Kitty asked as Kurt carefully pulled the swords from his friend's chest.

"Ah-must've-gained-more-than-jus-Pietro's-powers-when-ah-knocked-him-out" Rogue guessed. "Still,-ah-gotta-admit,-this-power-does come in handy in a fahght"

Anything else the three teens wanted to discuss was cut short when the entire asteroid began to shake.

"What's happening?" Kitty asked as she clung to Kurt to keep her balance.

"Something has caused Magnus' enhancer to overload!" Xavier said he rolled up to them. "We need to get to the X-jet immediately!"

"Professor" Kurt began but was interrupted by Xavier.

"I know what you are going to say Kurt" Xavier began having quickly read the teens mind and finding the guilt and shame at what he had done almost immediately. "We shall discuss your punishment once we return to the mansion"

"Does that go for both of us?" Asked Scott as he and Alex came into view carrying a dazed Stefan between them, a hand print visible on one side of his face. "I kind of crossed the line myself"

Xavier smiled as he looked at his first student. "Yes, you as well"

-*#*-

Ororo gunned the X-jet to top speed whilst the X-men and the Brotherhood boys Toad had managed to take out by himself, minus Pietro who Rogue and Evan handled, braced themselves for a bumpy ride. Due to Asteroid M's own artificial gravity they did not know that the exit was pointing straight down until they had exited the asteroid. Despite Ororo's and Logan's best efforts, the X-jet collided with the ground and skidded to a halt as its engines cut out.

"That ability to destroy asteroids with a snap of the fingers would be very helpful about now!" Kurt said trying to keep optimistic as they all went outside to see the asteroid falling towards them.

Combining his Evil-eye telepathy and magnetism powers, Stefan attempted to force the asteroid away but only succeeded in slowing its decent.

"I can't slow it down forever!" He groaned as he felt himself sink into the snow. "One more minute then we're pancakes!"

"More than enough" Scott stated calmly as he and Alex walked passed Stefan until they were directly in the asteroids path.

Glancing at one another, the two brothers grinned before looking up and charging their powers to max. The next second, an orange and pink beam of energy shot up towards the asteroid forcing it to explode into a ball of pink light just after two silver pods shot away from it.

"Now _that's_ a blast" Alex chuckled from where he lay on the snow due to the shockwave his appearance now back to normal.

"I'd rather _not_ do that again" Scott concluded although he was chuckling all the same. He too had reverted back to normal and was keeping his eyes closed to prevent him from accidently optics blasting someone.

"That goes double for me" Stefan agreed. He was sitting up but rubbing his eyes as if he had been somewhat blinded by the flash. And his cheek was still stinging from when Rogue had speed touched him earlier.

As the rest of the teens, minus the Brotherhood, gathered round the three heroes of the hour, Logan and Ororo had a quiet discussion with Xavier.

"Two pods flew away from the rock right before it exploded" Logan noted. "And since the weather witch here sent Sabertooth flying away earlier, it had to have been Magneto and Mystique"

"Do you think they will be back?" Ororo asked curiously.

Xavier rested his chin on his hands and watched his children celebrate their victory as he answered. "It is inevitable that we shall meet again. But for now, let them be; they are still kids after all"

Logan and Ororo nodded as they too watched the teen's toy about in the snow. They had earned their victory so it was only right to allow them to enjoy it.

_-*/#\*-_

_Don't think this is the end folks, I've still to put some of season two into this before finishing this fic. It has actually nearly been a year since I first put this up & I'm amazed that people still like it._

_Anyhoo, review if possible & 'til next time _

_Watch this space & peace out!_


	21. Chapter 21

I'm afraid I cannot apologise enough but this is where this fic ends for now. Due to having one too many fics to update at one time, I'm having trouble trying not to rush them. I prefer doing up to three fics at most so it seems rather stupid that I decided to make three more when I'm already at my limit.

To make up for this, there's a poll up allowing you to choose which sequel I start when I finish one of my other fics. Hope this makes up some way

Watch this space, peace out & many apologies.


End file.
